Vascular & endovascular surgery

Blockages in your arteries can make it painful to move. That’s why your doctor might recommend vascular and endovascular surgeries, which can help restore proper blood flow through your veins and ease your pain.

At Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center Vascular Center, we take a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating all types of vascular disorders. We offer advanced vascular and endovascular procedures, like stent grafts for unusually shaped aneurysms, so you can avoid traditional, open surgical repair.

Types of vascular surgery

In vascular surgery, the artery is reached through an incision in the skin. This requires general anesthesia, so you may be admitted to the hospital for a few days depending on the type of surgery.

Vascular surgery operations we perform include:

• Carotid endarterectomy to remove plaque from your carotid arteries, which are located on each side of your neck and supply oxygenated blood to your brain
• Iliofemoral endarterectomy to clear blockages from your femoral artery
• Lower leg bypass to restore blood flow in your legs
• Aortofemoral bypass to clear large blood vessels in your abdomen and groin
• Open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair to replace or reinforce your weak artery section with a synthetic graft

Types of endovascular surgery

During endovascular surgery, you’ll be sedated so you won’t feel any pain.

Endovascular procedures are done inside the blood vessel by inserting a catheter through your groin and into the artery. Angioplasty may be used to widen or open a blockage in the artery. Sometimes a support (a stent) is placed to hold the artery open.

Some types of endovascular surgery we perform include:

• Abdominal aortic aneurysm endograft insertion to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm from inside the aorta with a stent graft insertion. This is an alternative to an open surgical repair.
• Angiogram that takes images of your blood vessels. This may include angioplasty and a stent in an artery.
• Aortogram that involves images and mapping of the aorta
• Venogram to examine the health of your veins. This may include angioplasty and a stent in a vein.
• Inferior vena cava filter replacement to help prevent blood clots in the legs from traveling to the lungs