FACT SHEET TOPIC: Peripheral Vascular Surgery

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What is peripheral vascular disease?
Peripheral vascular disease is essentially coronary artery disease in a part of the body other than the heart. Peripheral vascular disease most often occurs in the blood vessels of the kidneys, arms, or legs, or the carotid arteries, which go to the brain. The cause of vascular disease may be buildups of cholesterol plaque or related diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and arteriosclerosis. The most common peripheral vascular disease causes pain or numbness in the legs when walking that goes away with rest. As the disease progresses, the pain may occur during rest. Blockages in the arteries feeding the kidneys or liver may cause symptoms such as abdominal pain or elevated blood pressure. Plaques in the carotid arteries can lead to strokes.

How is the blockage evaluated?
The physicians of North Valley Surgical Associates utilize a variety of non-invasive tests to determine the extent of blockage. Following a physical examination by the surgeon, such testing as angiography, duplex ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography assist in determining the best course of treatment.

What kinds of treatment are used?
Frequently, a course of medication, aspirin and exercise may help to reduce the symptoms. When non-invasive testing shows a blockage, North Valley Surgical Associates surgeons have many treatment options at their disposal. For more severe cases, bypass surgery or endarterectomy (cleaning out the calcified areas of the carotid artery) may be required. Bypass surgery may be performed using artificial tubing or a patient's own vein to reroute blood flow around the blockage.

What will the recovery be like?
Most peripheral vascular procedures require less than a three to seven day hospital stay. Recovery times are highly variable, but range from one week to one-to-two months, if extensive physician therapy is required after surgery.

Why choose North Valley Surgical Associates?
North Valley Surgical Associates is unique in that each of our surgeons has extensive experience with this complex problem. For complicated patients, the physicians often discuss the cases in a group session in order to arrive at the very best treatment option. Following your surgery and the initial follow-up period, your surgeon will release you to your primary care physician for on-going follow-up care, if needed.