Endovascular Services in Arizona

Overview

Endovascular surgery is a relatively new, less-invasive procedure for treating the two major problems that can develop in blood vessels:

• Aneurysm, or a weakness in a major blood vessel that causes a portion of the vessel wall to balloon out.
• Narrowing (also called occlusion or stenosis), which constricts the flow of blood in a vessel.

Before endovascular surgery was available, repair of both these conditions required traditional surgery under general anesthesia.

Endovascular surgery uses an easily accessible smaller artery to reach the problem and does not require general anesthesia. During most endovascular procedures, a long plastic tube called a cathether is placed into the femoral artery in the groin. Using X-ray imaging, a physician advances the catheter to the aneurysm or narrowing, and performs the surgical repair from within the blood vessel.

The high success rate of endovascular procedures performed at Mayo Clinic is due in part to our multidisciplinary approach to care, which pools the skills, talents, and experience of physicians from medical specialties including interventional radiology, interventional cardiology, vascular surgery, and vascular medicine. These physicians work together to evaluate patient conditions and provide effective treatment that results in:

• More accurate diagnosis
• More precise, less invasive surgical treatment
• Improved medical treatment

For example, our cardiologists have special experience in treating small vessel disease in the coronary arteries, which are two to three millimeters in diameter. This skill is leveraged for additional patient benefit by our cardiologists' participation in endovascular procedures on arteries below the knee, which are the same size as the coronary arteries.

This team approach to medical care allows our physicians and specialists to treat a wide range of medical conditions effectively and in one location.

Advantages of Endovascular Surgery

Advantages of endovascular surgery include:

• Less discomfort
• Local or regional anesthesia instead of general anesthesia
• Reduced need for blood products
• Less invasive, making it safer
• Smaller incision
• Less stress on the heart
• Fewer risks for patients with other diseases, such as coronary artery disease, kidney or lung problems
• Shorter recovery time

Specialists at Mayo Clinic use state-of-the-art diagnostic procedures including CT scanning, duplex ultrasound, and magnetic resonance angiography to determine whether patients are candidates for minimally invasive endovascular repair.