Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet

Endovascular embolization fills or closes blood vessels to prevent bleeding and rupturing. This is an alternative to open surgery.

Endovascular embolization can treat many conditions, including:

Vascular malformations — abnormal connections between arteries and veins (usually present at birth)

Tumors

The procedure can be used alone or with other treatments. It will not fix damaged areas of the brain, but it can improve quality of life by stopping bleeding or preventing rupture.

Shockwave intravascular lithotripsy is a novel device that modifies calcified lesions via calcium fracture to allow for effective stent deployment. This activity describes the procedure and reviews the role of the healthcare team in treating patients who undergo this procedure.

The Aspira Drainage System is a tunneled, long-term catheter used to drain accumulated fluid from the pleural or peritoneal cavity to relieve symptoms associated with malignant pleural effusion or malignant ascites.

Percutaneous carotid stent procedures are now available. For a select group of patients who cannot undergo carotid endarterectomy whether due to medical or anatomical issues, we are now offering carotid stent placement in which a stent is placed to expand the carotid artery to increase blood flow in areas blocked by plaque. Most patients can go home the next day following these procedures.

Other upper extremity interventions are also offered for the treatment of innominate and subclavian disease. These are often done due to vertebrobasilar insufficiency (inadequate blood flow through a part of the brain) and/or arm claudication (pain caused by too little blood flow).

Renal stent placement is often due to refractory hypertension or worsening kidney function and is a procedure to open the renal arteries, restoring normal blood flow.

Mesenteric intervention indications are typically for “bowel angina” to restore blood circulation and relieve symptoms. These procedures can be done if need be due to poor renal function with CO2, thus eliminating traditional contrast use.

Both of these procedures are done percutaneously through a catheter inserted via the groin or the wrist allowing same day discharge in most cases.

Minimally invasive interventions are offered for PVD patients with claudication (pain caused by too little blood flow), pain at rest, and ulcerations. We can provide these procedures without contrast by using CO2 if needed. We can assist in the procedural needs of patients needing distal aortic, lilac, femoral/popliteal, or tibial interventions. Just as important, we can continue to follow them to assist in accessing their overall cardiovascular health risk and adjusting their medications as needed.

PADnet is the only diagnostic device that can support the identification of peripheral artery disease (PAD) and venous reflux disease through a unique collaborative care model, which enables the cost-effective delivery of care that optimizes patient outcomes.

PADnet allows baseline physiologic testing to be completed in a variety of settings, including primary care, by a qualified technician. PADnet is designed to be easy to use and intuitive, a full PADnet arterial study can be performed in under 20 minutes.

PADnet uses air cuff and PPG probe technology to record AnkleBrachial Index (ABI), Toe-Brachial Index (TBI), Segmental Pressure values and Pulse Volume Recording (PVR) waveforms. In addition, PADnet performs venous refill studies. These non-invasive tests help identify vascular disease, and provide data to determine suitable medical or surgical treatment plans for PAD and CVI.

Atherectomy is a minimally invasive procedure healthcare providers use to remove plaque buildup and open narrow or blocked arteries. The procedure helps restore healthy blood flow and relieves symptoms of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) happens when plaque builds up in your arteries, causing them to become narrow and block your blood flow. This plaque build-up is atherosclerosis. In an atherectomy, healthcare providers remove plaque with a catheter with a sharp blade or laser on its end. The sharp blade or laser lets them cut out or scrape out the hard plaque. Your provider may also perform angioplasty (ballooning) or stent placement.

Flowtriever: Cookeville Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in the state of Tennessee to offer this treatment option. This is a non-thrombolytic (clot-busting medication) option that directly removes clots through a catheter-based system in the pulmonary arteries.

EKOS: This procedure involves another catheter-based device placed inside the lung that dispenses a thrombolytics (clot-busting medication) and produces ultrasound waves to further dislodge and break apart the clot to help dissolve it. This treatment has been shown to further reduce clot burden by reducing fibrin (a protein involved in clotting of blood) standing in the thrombus (blood clot).

Both of these procedures can be completed in less than an hour and allow patients to be ambulatory in four to six hours.

Deep vein thromobosis (DVT) is a complex vascular process with multiple minimally invasive options available. Thrombus (blood clots) in the lower extremities potential can cause lifelong pain and swelling if left untreated.

Clottriever is newer therapy that allows removal of the clot through a basket retrieval system. Cookeville Regional Medical Center is the only center in the state of Tennessee to offer this therapy.

EKOS Endovascular system: In addition to treating pulmonary embolism, EKOS technology can be utilized for the care of DVTs. This is an innovative technology used to dissolve blood clots in lungs and elsewhere. This system has been shown to be very effective in removing clots and improving patient outcomes.

The cardiologists are able to place a catheter inside the lungs that dispenses a clot-busting

Penumbra is another option that allows suction removal of thrombus in the veins of the upper and lower extremities.

All three of these procedures are percutaneous catheter-based devices that can allow patients to be up and moving, and potentially discharged the same day.

Inferior Vena Cava (IVC) Filter: For patients with either deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, this filter may need to be placed. This can be done due to inability to tolerate anticoagulation (blood thinners) for a multitude of reasons, or for patients who have had a clinical event while on therapeutic anticoagulation. Both permanent and removal filters can be placed. For those that are placed with the intent to remove later, these patients are placed in a local database to ensure follow up and removal.

Angiovac is a catheter-based procedure for the removal of thrombus (blood clots) on the right side of the heart. This procedure can remove large volume thrombus throughout the venous system (superior or inferior vena cava or ilio-femoral system). The system can also remove right atrial masses, thrombus and vegetation in the setting of tricuspid and/or pulmonic endocarditis.

Cookeville Regional Medical Center is one of only a few centers in the state of Tennessee to offer this procedure.

When veins become blocked, usually after a previous thrombosis, this can lead to troublesome symptoms in some, but not all, cases. The larger veins in the pelvis, the iliac veins, are prone to this problem.

In order to try and avoid these veins being blocked or damaged by thrombosis there is a growing interest in dissolving and removing the clot when a thrombosis occurs. So large DVTs involving the iliac veins are sometimes suitable for this treatment approach.

To remove the clot, a catheter is placed in the vein to administer the clot dissolving drug directly into the thrombus. This is called lysis. A number of small catheter devices can also be used inside the vein to agitate and break up the clot, aspirating (sucking) away the free clot. A combination of this and lysis can clear veins relatively quickly (hours). Anticoagulation will usually then be used to stop the clot occurring again. The duration of this anticoagulation varies depending on the cause of the DVT, if it is a recurrent DVT and the extent and position of the DVT.

Sometimes a narrowing or stenosis of the iliac vein is found after clot removal. This may have been a contributary factor to the clot, and it may need treating. Venous stents can now be placed to open up narrowed veins. These are larger than some arterial stents, very strong but flexible.