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A vascular surgeon is a doctor who specializes in clearing blood vessels, removing adhesions, aneurysms and atherosclerotic lesions from them, and inserting vascular prostheses. A vascular surgeon also deals with the diagnosis and treatment of abnormalities in the functioning of blood vessels and diseases within the lymphatic system (lymphatic vessels), as well as surgical treatment. However, the tasks of a vascular surgeon do not include neurosurgery and cardiosurgery.
What diseases does the vascular surgeon deal with and when to see this specialist?
Vascular surgeon is the specialist to see if the following conditions are suspected or diagnosed:
- atherosclerosis, primarily atherosclerotic changes in the vessels of the lower extremities and carotid atherosclerosis,
- inflammatory diseases of the circulatory system,
- diabetic foot syndrome (non-healing wounds on the feet resulting from poorly treated diabetes),
- blockages, especially pulmonary embolism,
- venous diseases, acute and chronic, such as venous thromboembolism, deep vein insufficiency, leg varicose veins,
- aneurysms, whether or not ruptured or inflamed; including thoracic aortic aneurysms, abdominal aortic aneurysms and visceral aneurysms
- chronic venous ulcers,
- neoplastic diseases of the vascular system,
- Thrombotic vasculitis, or Buerger’s disease.
Vascular surgeon orders additional diagnostics that confirms or excludes these diseases and implements appropriate medical treatment.
Additionally specialist one should report in the case of varicose veins and spider veins forming on the legs, when we feel numbness or tingling of the limbs, when blue discoloration is formed on the skin indicating and reduced blood flow in a given place or about cracking or inflammation of varicose veins, and also when it appears retrosternal pain and shortness of breath may be a sign of pulmonary embolism.
What types of examinations and treatments are performed by a vascular surgeon?
Usually, the primary research they commission vascular surgeon, there is Doppler ultrasound of carotid and vertebral arteries, Doppler ultrasound of upper and lower limbs or Doppler examination of visceral arteries (depending on the patient’s complaints). Doppler ultrasound shows the state of blood flow in the artery, which allows you to determine its patency and check whether the blood is retracting, for example, due to an embolism or a narrowing caused by atherosclerotic changes. Doppler ultrasound ordered by vascular surgeon it gives an image of the efficiency and cross-section of the examined veins and arteries and gives the possibility of an early response to changes within them, which may sometimes threaten the patient’s life (for example, with a risk of thromboembolism and pulmonary embolism). Vascular surgeon he may also order computed tomography of veins and arteries, arteriography, angioscopy, venography and lymphography.
Therapy methods used by a vascular surgeon
Vascular surgeon has at his disposal both minimally invasive methods of treating diseases of arteries, veins and other blood vessels, as well as invasive methods, including surgery, including limb amputation. One of the most used by surgeon vascular The methods of therapy are sclerotherapy, which is used to treat chronic venous insufficiency. This procedure involves the removal of varicose veins by injecting them with a special sclerosing drug.
Vascular surgeon He also uses endovascular methods of treatment, such as percutaneous balloon angioplasty, in which a special balloon catheter is implanted in the place where a vein or artery is obstructed or narrowed to restore or improve vessel patency and blood flow. Vascular surgeon he may also order the implantation of a so-called stent or stentograph. Stents are implanted in diseases of the iliac, femoral and carotid arteries, while a graft stent is used when the artery is damaged. Vascular surgeon among the treatment methods available to him, he also has atherectomy, during which the plaque is removed from the arteries using a special device. Surgical procedures performed by vascular surgeon for example, reconstruction and restoration of arteries, bypass and surgical treatment of lymphedema. The most radical operation performed by vascular surgeon there is a limb amputation, which most often occurs as a result of the so-called diabetic foot.