Vascular Surgery Procedures

Traditional surgery involves removing the aneurysm and replacing the excised vessel piece with a synthetic tube. In endovascular surgery, a stent graft is inserted through a small incision and guided to the weak area of the artery with a catheter. Once inside the artery, the stent graft expands to fill the vessel, providing a strong new vessel wall that allows uninterrupted blood flow. The aneurysm then generally shrinks around the stent graft over time.

Aneurysms can be occur in any artery throughout the body. This includes arteries in the extremities as well as those supplying vital organs such as the spleen, kidneys, liver and intestines.
If an aneurysm is diagnosed early, effective treatments can include rupture prevention and monitoring. Surgery is performed if it is believed the aneurysm is at risk of bursting. If an aneurysm is treated in time, surgical intervention generally has an excellent outcome.

There are two common approaches to aneurysm repair: traditional surgical repair and endovascular stent grafting. During traditional surgical repairs, the weakened part of your artery will be replaced with a tube-like graft to allow blood to pass easily through it. Endovascular stent grafting is a minimally invasive way of treating aneurysms through small incisions.

Arterial grafting is performed to bypass a blocked or diseased part of an artery to restore proper blood flow and reduce the risk of serious complications. During this procedure, arteries from other parts of the body can be used to provide the bypass grafts.

This procedure is usually performed under general anesthesia and may take several hours, depending on the number of arteries being bypassed. A hospital stay is often required after this procedure and patients will be given specific post-operative instructions to promote proper healing and effective heart function.

Carotid endarterectomy is surgery that removes plaque buildup from inside a carotid artery in the neck. This surgery help restore normal blood flow to the brain to prevent a stroke. A hospital stay of one to three days is usually required after a carotid endarterectomy.

Hemodialysis, or simply dialysis, is the most common treatment for chronic kidney failure. Healthy kidneys effectively remove excess fluid, minerals and waste from the blood to keep it clean and prevent disease. When the kidneys fail, they can no longer filter wastes from the blood. Dialysis does the kidneys job for them by removing blood from a vein in the patient’s arm or leg, circulating it through a filtering machine, and returning it to the body through the patient's permanent hemodialysis access.

Dialysis treatments are usually administered three times a week for three-to-five hours.