Vascular surgery
Vascular surgery is one of modern medical specialties and an important part of angiology (vascular medicine). It is intended to treat vascular diseases in all areas of the body except for the heart. After this method had emerged the capabilities of the standard surgical techniques broadened. Initially, this surgical area had been developing as diagnostic one but a bit later it opened up exceptional opportunities for treatment of diseases previously considered to be incurable.
Procedure of vascular surgery treatment:
The most widespread methods are сoronary artery bypass surgery, carotid endarterectomy, aneurysm clipping, endoprosthesis implant and balloon angioplasty. Endovascular methods were successfully adopted by cardiologists, neurosurgeons and hepatologists. So, it is now possible to perform successful surgeries in case of coronary heart disease, acute myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis, liver cirrhosis, uterine fibromyoma and other serious diseases. These surgeries cause minimal trauma to a patient and have extremely short recovery period.
Who can be treated using vascular surgery techniques:
Vascular surgery can be used for treatment of patients having such diseases as arterial enlargement (aneurysm), inflammation processes of vessel walls (endarteritis), narrowing of arteries due to the build up of atherosclerotic plaque (atherosclerosis), varicose veins, thrombophlebitis, etc.
What a patient should know before treatment:
Right before the procedure a patient undergoes a clinical examination including biochemical blood and urine tests, ultrasound, X-ray imaging. A patient should stop taking medicines having any effect on the cardiovascular system. Prioir to surgery an arteriography procedure is carried out using a radiocontrast agent.
A patient is not allowed to eat and drink for 8 hours before surgery. On the night before surgery a body is saturated with water using special solutions.
A few hours before the procedure the intestines are purged using an enema, a catheter is inserted to empty the urinary bladder.
Process of vascular surgery treatment:
Vascular surgery techniques belong to minimally invasive methods as all operations cause minimal tissue injury. As vascular surgery operations are performed inside blood vessels this kind of surgery is called endovascular. In order to perform all necessary operations a surgeon makes a puncture in the skin, and all actions are performed using tiny catheters inserted into a blood vessel. The surgery process is monitored using special X-ray equipment.
Anesthesia: combined local and general anesthesia
Duration of vascular surgery: 1-3 hours
What should a patient do after vascular surgery:
The recovery period may vary depending on the applied surgical method. After open surgery a patient stays at the clinic in the special postoperative recovery ward under a doctor’s supervision for 7 to 10 days. Such wards are provided with all necessary equipment and accessories for temporary arrest of bleeding. A nurse in charge massages the limbs to prevent blood circulation failures. In 20 hour after surgery blood thinners can be prescribed. After discharge from the clinic it is necessary to undergo full cardiac rehabilitation.
Contraindications for treatment by vascular surgery techniques:
It is not recommended to perform surgeries on blood vessels if a patient has an acute rheumatic process in the heart.
