Surgical Procedures
It began over a decade ago with our development of the stent graft, a revolutionary treatment for aortic aneurysms, which are the 13th leading cause of death worldwide. Since that time, Stanford's division of vascular surgery has helped lead the transition from big, open procedures to minimally invasive, endovascular approaches that are safer for patients.
Treatment for aneurysms used to keep patients in the hospital for a week or more. Full recovery could take as much as three to six months. With stent grafts, patients can leave the hospital in a day or two and expect full recovery within a month - and sometimes as little as a week.
In fact, stent grafts have become the standard procedure for treating aneurysms, having helped speed patient recovery and reduce the risks from aneurysms for over 50,000 patients around the world.
Our surgical treatments include:
- Surgery of the abdominal and thoracic aorta
- Surgery for occlusive disease, including lower-extremity revascularization for claudication and limb salvage, as well as minimally invasive techniques, reversed an in situ bypass, pedal bypass, cryopreserved vein bypass, thrombolysis and transcatheter techniques, and redo and end-stage limb salvage procedures
- Thoracic outlet surgery
- Mesenteric revascularization (acute and chronic)
- Creation of dialysis access shunts
- Placement of dialysis lines
- Extra-anatomic bypass
- Operative angioplasty and atherectomy
At Stanford we achieve non-invasive diagnosis via color duplex imaging of the carotid, aorta, visceral, and femoral arterial systems, as well as non-invasive physiologic testing.
For advanced diagnostic imaging we use high-speed spiral CT as well as MRI angiography, which allows quantitative flow measurements.
Focused digital angiography permits interventional radiologists to treat specific lesions using angioplasty, atherectomy, and intravascular stents.
Vascular surgeons provide surgical and transcatheter therapies for a variety of vascular problems, including:
- Vertebrobasilar insufficiency
- Acute and chronic aortic dissections
- Thoracoabdominal aneurysms
- Renovascular hypertension
- Thrombotic and vasospastic disorders
- Dialysis access
- Thoracic outlet compression
Treatments