Advanced vascular expertise
Because blood flows throughout the entire body, vascular diseases can be quite complicated and show up in many ways. They can cause symptoms like muscle cramps when you move, leg pain when you’re resting, wounds that don’t heal, weak legs, swelling or feeling tired. That’s why we offer some of the leading expertise in our region here at NGPG’s Vascular Center to help you feel better and prevent complications down the road.
About NGPG Vascular Center
At NGPG Vascular Center we offer comprehensive services to diagnose and treat all types of vascular disease, which are conditions affecting the vascular (or circulatory) system. Through the Vascular Center you can access both nonsurgical treatment options and vascular surgery.
Our board-certified vascular and endovascular specialists have more than 70 years of combined experience, equipping us to provide exceptional care to our patients. We offer innovative treatment options and advanced vascular surgery procedures, which benefit patients with quicker recovery time and fewer complications.
What We Treat
The vascular system is an intricate system of blood vessels and lymph vessels that can be found throughout the body. Normally, blood flows smoothly through these blood vessels, but sometimes disease can damage a vein or artery in some part of the body.
NGPG vascular specialists have specialty training in treating:
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm
- Atherosclerosis
- Carotid artery disease
- Mesenteric artery disease
- Peripheral artery disease
- Renal artery disease
- Thoracic outlet syndrome
- Venous disease
What We Do
Specialists at NGPG Vascular Center work to identify and treat vascular disease as early as possible minimizing the need for invasive treatment. In some cases, however, surgical treatment is needed.
We offer the following vascular surgery procedures:
Aneurysm repair
This procedure is used to repair aneurysms, which are a bulge or ballooning in the wall of a blood vessel. We offer both open (or traditional) and minimally invasive aneurysm repair, which use an artificial graft to strengthen the blood vessel wall and prevent rupture.
Angioplasty
This procedure uses a balloon-tipped catheter to remove plaque from a blocked artery. It is often used in conjunction with stenting, where a small mesh tube is placed into the artery to keep it from narrowing again.
Atherectomy
This procedure uses a blade-tipped catheter to remove plaque from a blocked artery. Atherectomy may be used as a standalone procedure, along with stenting or prior to an angioplasty with stenting.
Bypass grafts
During a bypass procedure, a healthy vein from elsewhere in the body is used to create a “bypass” around a blocked artery, restoring blood flow. While most commonly associated with the heart and the coronary arteries, bypass procedures can be used to treat blockages in any artery in the body.
Carotid endarterectomy
This procedure, which is performed through an artery in the neck, is used to remove plaque buildup in the carotid arteries, improving blood flow to the brain, face and head and preventing stroke.
Endovascular surgery
These procedures use minimally invasive, catheter-based techniques to perform vascular surgery. Learn more about endovascular surgery.
Inferior vena cava filter placement
Those who have deep vein thrombosis are at high risk of developing a pulmonary embolism. This happens when a blood clot in a deep vein travels to the lungs. During this procedure, a specialized metal filter is placed into the inferior vena cava, which is the body’s largest vein, capturing blood clots before they reach the lungs.
Radiofrequency ablation
This procedure is often used to treat venous diseases such as varicose veins and chronic venous insufficiency. During the catheter-based procedure, high-frequency sound waves are used to apply heat, closing up the diseased vein. Learn more about radiofrequency ablation.
Phlebectomy
This procedure is used to remove diseased veins through small incisions in the skin. It is most often used to treat veins that are close to the skin or that bulge above the surface of the skin.
Sclerotherapy
This procedure is used to treat spider veins and small varicose veins. During the procedure, a solution is injected directly into a diseased vein, causing the vein to collapse. Blood then reroutes around that vein, restoring normal blood flow.
FAQs
What is vascular disease?
Vascular disease is any medical condition that affects the vascular system, which is the network of veins, arteries and lymph vessels in the body. When someone develops a vascular disease, it can damage the blood vessels disrupting blood flow.
This can lead to organs and tissues in the body being deprived of the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive and function. The longer blood flow is cut off, the more damage occurs.
That’s why it’s important for vascular disease to be diagnosed and treated as early as possible restoring the flow of oxygenated blood.
What happens if a condition affects the heart and the vascular system?
You’ve probably heard the term “cardiovascular.” That word is a combination of cardio, referring to the heart and vascular, referring to the vascular system. These two systems of the body are so intricately connected that there’s a medical specialty devoted to them!
When a person develops coronary artery disease, which is a buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries that carry blood to the heart, it affects those blood vessels but also affects the function of the heart. Because of that, care for coronary artery disease—and conditions it causes, such as a heart attack—is provided by specialists in both cardiology and vascular surgery.
We collaborate together to provide the care needed to get blood flowing effectively to the heart muscle again.
Is vascular surgery always needed to treat vascular disease?
No, and whenever possible our team of vascular specialists offers patients access to noninvasive treatment options first. Your provider may recommend lifestyle changes, such as smoking cessation and a healthy diet, along with medications, which may include blood thinners or drugs to lower cholesterol or blood pressure.
When vascular surgery is needed, your provider will carefully consider a number of factors to find the right procedure for your needs. This includes your overall health, the type and severity of vascular disease you have and your lifestyle. Whenever possible, NGPG vascular specialists will suggest minimally invasive surgical procedures.
Can vascular surgery be performed on an outpatient basis?
In some cases, yes. Procedures to treat spider or varicose veins, for example, are often performed on an outpatient basis.
Other vascular surgery procedures can be performed using minimally invasive techniques that often allow patients to be discharged from the hospital on the day after surgery. That’s frequently the case with catheter-based procedures, which access the body through tiny incisions in the groin, wrist or neck.
In other cases, open surgical procedures may be needed to treat a vascular disease, requiring a slightly longer hospital stay.