Peripheral Vascular Surgery
The medical field of peripheral vascular diseases includes disorders of the blood vessels, the arteries and veins (not including the heart). The circulatory system includes arteries which are the blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart and veins that carry blood back to the lungs to get more oxygen and then get pumped through the heart back into the arteries. Surgeons who treat patients with blood vessel disorders have many options including medication, mechanical devices, catheters and balloons introduced through small skin incisions and, of course, surgical procedures. The goals of treatment are to keep the vessels open and working and in so doing prevent stroke, leg cramping, leg amputation and prevent rupture of aneurysms (an artery which is weak and dilated).
Although most aneurysms don’t have symptoms until they are ready to rupture or have clotted, artery narrowing or blockages have many symptoms depending on the disease location and the activity of the patient. These symptoms are discussed in the following paragraphs as well as treatment options and expected outcomes.