If you have a medical condition affecting your blood circulation, you may be suffering from vascular disease. Vascular diseases affect the performance and functions of your lymphatic systems and blood vessels. Treatment of vascular diseases is possible without requiring surgery. However, according to the Center for Vascular Medicine, there are cases where a remedy can only be found using a vascular procedure. This article will discuss several types of vascular procedures used to treat and manage vascular diseases.

Carotid Artery Surgical Procedure

The more scientific name of this vascular procedure is carotid endarterectomy. This procedure is done to treat and manage carotid artery diseases. When the build-up of calcium and fatty deposits blocks the blood flowing through the carotid artery to your brain, you can suffer from a stroke. Therefore, your surgeon has to conduct carotid artery surgery to reduce the risk of a stroke and restore normal blood flow to your brain.

Vascular Bypass

When a major blood vessel is blocked, one of the ways to solve this problem is by conducting a vascular bypass procedure. A vascular bypass procedure allows your vascular surgeon to reroute your blood vessels so your blood can flow normally around the blockage. Vascular surgeons use grafts ( plastic tubes or another blood vessel) to bypass the blockage on the blood vessels. There are several types of vascular bypass procedures named according to the blood vessel or body part with a problem.

Angioplasty

Angioplasty is another vascular procedure used to treat and manage coronary artery diseases. The procedure requires your vascular surgeon to unblock the coronary arteries responsible for directing blood to your heart. This procedure can also be done during an emergency like a heart attack. Angioplasty is a minimally invasive procedure that requires a balloon or a coronary stent to restore normal blood flow. 

Dialysis Access Surgery

Kidney failure patients require regular dialysis treatment to continue living before a kidney transplant procedure can be done. However, for a patient to start dialysis treatment, their bloodstream requires a connection to the dialysis equipment. And to set up this connection, dialysis access surgery is necessary to create a vascular opening where the needle will be placed during dialysis.  

Endovascular Grafting

Endovascular grafting or endovascular aneurysm repair is one of the vascular procedures used to treat and manage an aneurysm. This vascular procedure is minimally invasive and relies on catheters (long thin tubes) to place a stent in the aorta where the aneurysm has formed. After the successful placement of the stent-graft, a thin layer of tissue will coat the stent like a layer of skin.

Leg Revascularization

Vascular surgeons use leg revascularization to treat and manage peripheral artery disease (PAD). The procedure requires your surgeon to perform a bypass. The bypass is done to establish normal blood flow to your legs and feet after a blockage appears in the arteries in your leg. Vascular surgeons have two leg revascularization techniques to apply. One approach is invasive since it requires your surgeon to make an incision on your leg. And the second technique, which is minimally invasive, requires balloons, stent grafts, or atherectomy devices to unblock the arteries.

Limb Amputation

Limb amputation is another vascular procedure used to treat and manage peripheral artery disease (PAD). However, vascular surgeons use this procedure as a last resort after other treatment options have failed to work. Limb amputation is performed on patients with advanced cases of PAD. It’s also important for you to remember that the risk of limb amputation is higher among patients with PAD and diabetes. 

Thrombectomy

Thrombectomy is a vascular procedure done to eliminate blood clots from your arteries or veins. Blood clots in your blood circulation system are dangerous. They can lead to life-threatening medical conditions like acute stroke or pulmonary embolism. Your vascular surgeon can either perform a surgical thrombectomy or a catheter-based thrombectomy to remove the clot. Due to the invasive nature of surgical thrombectomy, it’s often used in emergency cases when the patient’s life is in immediate danger. 

Whether or not your vascular condition requires the immediate intervention of a vascular procedure is a decision for your healthcare specialist to make. If your healthcare specialist suggests a vascular procedure to treat your vascular disease, ensure the surgeon handling your case has years of experience. Vascular surgeons treat many types of vascular diseases. Therefore, it’s important to know whether your surgeon has the expertise to perform the procedure you need to stay healthy.