Historical Background Anticoagulation has long been considered the gold standard for treatment of lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This therapy is effective at preventing DVT extension, pulmonary embolism, and DVT-related death. However, because anticoagulation does not dissolve thrombus, clot…
Historical Background In 1969 Rosch and colleagues reported the first transjugular portal venography and portacaval shunt placement in a canine model. At that time, they foresaw the potential therapeutic benefits of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) placement and recognized the…
Historical Background The first direct venous reconstruction using a saphenous vein graft for “postphlebitic stasis” was reported in 1954 by Warren and Thayer. In the late 1950s and 1960s venous reconstructions for benign occlusions using a cross-pubic venous bypass were…
Historical Background In 1757 Hunter was the first to describe a patient with compression of the superior vena cava (SVC) by a large syphilitic aortic aneurysm leading to thrombosis. In 1954 Schechter reported a series of 400 patients with SVC…
Historical Background Vena cava interruption for prevention of pulmonary embolism (PE) was introduced in the 1950s and 1960s. Femoral vein and inferior vena cava (IVC) ligation, as well as partial interruption of the IVC using plastic clips, plication, and mechanical…
Historical Background Fasciotomy is designed to prevent nerve injury and myonecrosis resulting from compartment syndrome characterized by elevated pressure within a fixed extremity compartment. Compartment syndrome is most often observed after reperfusion of an acutely ischemic extremity or among patients…
Historical Background In 1946 McKittrick described the use of the transmetatarsal amputation for the diabetic foot, along with specific indications including infection, ischemia, and neuropathic ulcerations of the toes and forefoot. He noted that forefoot amputation just proximal to the…
Historical Background The first recorded instance of amputations and prosthetic replacement appears in the Rig-Veda, written in Sanskrit between 3500 and 1800 bc . The ancient Greek text, “On Joints,” written in the latter half of the fifth century bc…
Historical Background Although open surgical treatment remains the gold standard for treatment of popliteal artery aneurysm, endovascular repair has become a viable alternative. In 1994 Marin and colleagues described the first endovascular approach to exclusion of a popliteal artery aneurysm,…
Historical Background Initial series demonstrating the feasibility of infrapopliteal angioplasty were reported in the late 1980s and early 1990s concomitant with the development of increasingly small, strong, low-profile balloons; steerable hydrophilic guidewires; and improved road-mapping techniques. These reports, largely for…