Minimally Invasive and Endovascular Surgery
Percutaneous Transluminal Angioplasty (PTA) and Stenting
A long, thin, flexible tube called a catheter is inserted into an artery of your arm or leg after it is punctured with a small needle puncture in an artery of your arm or groin. The catheter is guided through the arteries to the blocked area anywhere in the body. Once in place, a special catheter which has a balloon at its end is inflated. The balloon pushes the plaque in the artery against the artery walls, widening the vessel. At this point, if the result is not optimal, your vascular surgeon may place a tiny mesh-metal tube, called a stent, into the narrowed artery.
Laser Atherectomy
A laser fiber is inserted through a catheter into an artery to the site of a complete blockage of the artery. The Excimer or "cool" laser then vaporizes the occluding plaque to reestablish a channel through which blood can flow or to allow the placement of an angioplasty balloon and/or stent. This procedure is known as the CLiRpath® (Cool Laser Revascularization for Peripheral Artery Therapy) system and Danbury Hospital was one of the first hospitals in the United States and the first in Connecticut to use this breakthrough technology for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease.
Endovascular Aneurysm Repair (EVAR)
A minimally invasive way to correct abdominal aortic aneurysms that cuts surgery time in half and is done under local or spinal anesthesia. Small incisions are made in both groins and catheters containing self expanding covered stents are placed under Xray. This procedure reduces the hospital stay from 7 to 10 days to 24 to 72 hours and total recovery time from 6 weeks to less than 1 week.
Thrombolytic (Lytic) Therapy
When arteries or bypass grafts in the extremities or abdomen become acutely blocked they can often be reopened with the use drugs called lytic agents. These agents are administered through a small catheter in the artery and dissolve the clot, avoiding the need for surgery. Lytic therapy can also be used to dissolve clots in the large veins of the arms and legs in order to preserve vein valve function and prevent pulmonary embolism.
Endovenous Radiofrequency Ablation (VNUS® Closure®) Procedure
Through a very small incision in the leg a catheter is inserted into the great or small saphenous veins and/or one their branches. A radiofrequency wave generator attached to the catheter is then initiated. The radiofrequency waves denature collagen in the wall of the vein which results in the closing of the vein lumen and thereby eliminates venous reflux. This minimally invasive procedure has largely replaced venous stripping for the treatment of venous insufficiency at Danbury Hospital and is performed under local anesthesia.
