In order to make it clearer and easier for you to read the vascular surgery information, Medica experts have put together a list of basic relevant terms:
Vascular Surgery
A field of medical surgery dealing with arterial, venous and lymphatic diseases.
Blood Vessels
Blood vessel by definition is a tube that carries the blood from the heart or to the heart. There are two types of blood vessels: arteries, and veins.
Arterial blood vessels
The blood vessels carrying the blood from the heart to all parts of the body.
Venous blood vessels
The blood vessels that the blood returns through from the various organs of the body back to the heart.
Varicose veins
Varicose veins are swollen and enlarged veins that usually have blue or dark purple color. Varicose veins can be bumpy, bulging or curvy. Most varicose veins develop in superficial leg veins due to a problem with the integrity of the vein valves. The function of the valves is to prevent the blood from flowing against direction (Retrograde flow), when they do not work properly the blood flows backwards and the veins are subjected to pressure during prolonged periods, and swell. To learn more about varicose veins, click here.
Endo laser
Laser therapy with sonar guidance and is an alternative for vein surgery (striping). During this treatment the defective vein is sealed with laser energy and this causes it to disappear. The use of a sonar (ultrasound) during surgery allows the procedure to be performed non-invasively (without creating cuts).
Steam method treatment
Impacting the veins with high temperature (about 120 C inside the vein), produced by compressed distilled water vapor.
Radio wave treatment
In this method, the affected veins are sealed using energy from radio waves. This energy heats up the walls of the affected vein, shrinks it and as a result the vein becomes blocked and is over time absorbed into the body and disappears.
Diagnostic catheterization
Catheterization is a small scale invasive operation performed at an imaging facility (X-ray) in a catheter room, usually under local anesthesia. The catheterization allows to sample the state of the blood vessels, their openness, diameter, pressure and velocity of the blood flow inside and as a result produce a diagnosis of the medical condition.
Therapeutic catheterization
Therapeutic catheterization (Angioplasty) is a medical procedure performed using a supporter/balloon, either following a diagnostic catheterization, or later after it, to treat narrowing or blockages in the arteries of the legs.
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