In 2012, there were over 285,300 vascular surgeons that were active in the United States. More importantly, the number of people who had at least one risk factor related to vascular disease was a whopping 180 million. Unfortunately, those figures have not subsided over the past seven years. Most of them have increased as a byproduct of lack of awareness and moderate disregard for healthy living through proper diet and activity. As a consequence, the risk factors have gone up, and the number of vascular surgeries that happen annually is counted in the millions.
Due to this, the public must be educated on some of the most common types of procedures that would fall under this umbrella. While they should investigate the risk factors and ensure that they minimize their exposure, it is also crucial to get familiarized with the specific surgeries that might be required. To that end, what are some of the most common types of vascular surgeries?
Endovascular Aneurysm Repair
According to an experienced cardiologist who currently works at the Institute of Florida, Dr. Irfan Siddiqui, one of the more common procedures is the so-called endovascular aneurysm repair. The reason why it has been growing in popularity is that it is nowhere near as invasive as most other alternatives and the safety rate is remarkably high. Surgeons go about the procedure by inserting a graft within the aneurysm after making small incisions in the groin area. Then, since they are not exposing the inside of the body, they guide themselves via X-rays to put the graft exactly where it needs to be. Sadly, some patients will not qualify for this surgery as their aneurysms are positioned in a way that makes the endovascular repair quite dangerous. Those who can take advantage of this option, however, can usually go back to their healthy lifestyles within a few days.
Vascular Bypass
When patients present with symptoms that lead to a diagnosis such as a troublesome artery that may be impacting the blood flow, surgeons often resort to a vascular bypass. As with every bypass surgery, the primary objective is to redirect the blood from the area that is not working well. So, what the doctors do is reconnect the blood vessels so that the blood can go around and avoid areas that are not facilitating good flow.
It is important to note, however, that this particular procedure has a wide range of maneuvers that are included. Some examples include lower extremity bypasses, which are used to resolve traumas and peripheral vascular diseases, as well as cerebral artery bypasses performed inside of the skull.
Sclerotherapy
As per in-depth research and analysis, there are approximately 40 million individuals in the United States who suffer from varicose veins. One of the notable contributors to such a high number is the fact that the condition is hereditary to a point where affected parents have a 90-percent chance of giving their children said situation. To resolve it, Dr. Irfan Siddiqui states that sclerotherapy is an unusual approach. Before analyzing this procedure, however, one should understand that it mostly applies to relatively small veins.
The way that it is performed is based on an injection of a solution directly into the vein that is experiencing issues. The solution will then cause that vein to become covered in scars that make the blood flow even worse. So, as the final byproduct, the body will reroute the blood to go through another vein that is working well. As far as the scarred vein, it merely collapses and becomes unnoticeable after the surrounding tissue slowly reabsorbs it.
Venous Cutdown
Although it is nowhere near as safe and non-invasive as most of the previous procedures, venous cutdown is another procedure that vascular surgeons sometimes have to perform. It is often done as an emergency response to severe trauma as well as hypovolemic shock. The way that it works is based on completely exposing the vein into which a doctor subsequently inserts a cannula. For those unfamiliar, cannulas are tubes that allow medical experts to provide and take essential fluids and nutrients from the body. Luckily, however, venous cutdown is nowhere near as prominent as it used to be. It is because it has been replaced by safer alternatives such as ultrasound-guided central venous catheters as well as the Seldinger technique.
Of course, the list goes on to include procedures like atherectomy, arteriotomy, various laser treatments, carotid stenting, revascularization, and many more. Since going through every single, one of them would not be feasible. However, the previously mentioned few are a great starting point for those looking to begin learning!
