Major Vascular Surgery is carried out for three main conditions:

• Aortic Aneurysm Disease – a swelling of the main blood vessel in the abdomen
• Carotid Artery Disease – narrowing of the main arteries in the neck
• Critical Limb Ischaemia – blockage of the arteries in the legs

Aortic Aneurysm Disease
An aneurysm caused by a weakening of the wall of an artery (similar to what you see if you blow up a bicycle tube too much).  These dilatations get bigger and can eventually rupture, which is extremely dangerous (fatal in 50% of cases).  Most aneurysms occur in the main artery of the body - the aorta. The part that runs through the abdomen is most commonly affected.

To prevent a rupture, repair of aneurysms is usually recommended when they reach a size of 5.5 cms in diameter (normal diameter is about 2 cm).  The repair is done by sewing an artificial tube into the aorta to replace the weakened part of the aneurysm wall. Aneurysms can also be repaired ‘endoluminally’ with a stent graft - a relatively new minimally invasive type of therapy.

For much more information on this topic, please see Aortic Aneurysm Surgery

Carotid Artery Disease
The carotid arteries run on each side of the neck and supply the brain with blood.  These can become furred up causing a narrowing of the artery.  The narrowing and damage to the inside of the artery can cause mini - strokes (transient ischaemic attacks) or a full blown stroke. This can be prevented by a simple operation called carotid endarterectomy, where the inside of the artery is cleared out and widened.

For much more information on this topic, please see Carotid Artery Disease

Critical Limb Ischaemia
Critical ischaemia is a term to describe severe deficiency of blood to a limb, usually the leg.  It may present with gangrene of the toes, ulcers or pain in the foot, which makes sleeping impossible.  Treatment usually requires a bypass from the femoral artery in the groin to an artery in the distal part of the leg, at or just above the ankle. The patients own vein is used as the bypass conduit.  This operation is performed to avoid limb amputation.

For much more information on this topic, please see Critical Limb ischaemia and bypass grafts