Endovascular Treatment
What is an endovascular treatment?
Endovascular treatment is a treatment recommended for cardiovascular diseases that occur inside the blood vessel. This is a minimally invasive procedure which involves the use of catheters, wires and stents to treat a blocked or narrowed artery.
There are different types of endovascular treatment procedures, such as:
- Angioplasty This is a procedure which involves inserting a balloon-tipped catheter into the artery, which will be inflated to compress the plaque. This will widen the artery and allow blood to flow more efficiently.
- Stent placement This procedure involves the insertion of a stent in the blocked artery to push the plaque out and restore blood flow.
- Artherectomy This involves the opening of the artery and the removing of the plaque caused by a buildup of cholesterol. The surgeon will insert a catheter and special device to cut, grind, ablate or vaporize the plaque.
- Thrombolysis This is a catheter-based procedure which is used to remove abnormal blood clots. During thrombolysis, the surgeon inserts medication into the blood vessel through a catheter which then will dissolve the blood clots.
- Suction Thrombectomy With this procedure, a special device is inserted to remove (applying suction) the clot from the vein or artery. The procedure is often combined with thrombolysis.
