What is arterial embolization therapy?

Arterial embolism is a common disease in daily life, with symptoms such as pain, numbness, and movement disorders. It has a great impact on people's normal life and work. Therefore, it is very important for patients to understand the treatment methods of arterial embolism. In fact, there are two ways to treat arterial embolism, one is non-surgical treatment and the other is surgical treatment.

1. Non-surgical treatment

The main purpose is to lower blood lipids and blood pressure, relieve blood hypercoagulability, and promote the formation of collateral circulation. Treatment methods include: obese people lose weight, strictly abstain from smoking and engage in appropriate exercise; commonly used drugs include aspirin, dipyridamole (persantin), inositol nicotinate, prostaglandins and tolazoline, etc.

2. Surgery

(1) Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA): For patients with single or multiple short-segment stenosis, a balloon catheter can be inserted into the stenotic segment of the artery through percutaneous puncture, and then the balloon can be inflated with appropriate pressure to expand the lesion lumen and restore blood flow. If combined with the use of intravascular stents, the long-term patency rate can be improved.

(2) Endarterectomy: Mainly suitable for patients with short-segment aortoiliac artery occlusive lesions. The thickened intima, atherosclerotic plaques and secondary thrombi of the diseased artery are removed, without the need for implantation of artificial blood vessels and without the risk of infection.

(3) Bypass surgery: Use autologous veins or artificial blood vessels to bypass the occluded segment between the proximal and distal ends. For occlusion of the aortoiliac artery, aortoiliac or femoral artery bypass can be used. For those with poor general condition, safer extra-anatomical bypass techniques, such as axillary-femoral artery bypass, can be used. If the affected iliac artery is occluded and the contralateral iliac artery is patent, bilateral femoral artery bypass can be performed. For patients with femoropopliteal artery occlusion, autologous great saphenous vein or artificial blood vessel can be used for femoropopliteal (tibial) artery bypass surgery. The distal anastomosis can be made at the popliteal artery above the knee, the popliteal artery below the knee, the tibial artery, or the posterior tibial artery at the ankle. The choice should be made based on the evidence provided by arteriography. When performing bypass surgery, there should be unobstructed arterial inflow and outflow tracts, and the anastomosis should be of appropriate caliber and as far away from atherosclerotic lesions as possible.