Introduction The optimal approach to thoracic, lumbar, and sacral spine exposure depends upon the pathology to be addressed, the level or levels being treated, the patient's other comorbid factors, and the experience of the operator and other team members conducting…
Overview and Historical Perspective Amputation is thought to be one of the oldest surgical procedures. The earliest artificial limb dates from the Samnite wars of 300 bc . Until the time of Ambroise Paré (1510–1590), the techniques for amputation surgery…
Knowledge about the management of wounds is a distinct subspecialty requiring knowledge of both normal and nonhealing wound physiology, products to accelerate wound healing, and new therapies for the treatment of recalcitrant wounds. Many subspecialties—such as vascular surgery, plastic surgery,…
Diabetic foot complications are common, costly, and impactful. The experience of many diabetic programs has demonstrated that multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary management of patients with diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) can significantly reduce complications and produce outstanding outcomes ; participation in these…
Endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) has gained wide acceptance since it was first reported in 1991. Randomized controlled trials have shown decreased short-term morbidity and mortality when compared with open controls. Increasing clinical experience…
With an increasing number of endovascular interventions replacing open vascular reconstruction, the management of open surgical complications may become less familiar to surgeons currently finishing training. Complications after aortoiliac and peripheral arterial reconstruction often develop and progress rapidly to produce…
The development of prosthetic biomaterial devices has made it possible to treat conditions that otherwise would have resulted in significant morbidity and mortality. Examples of such clinical conditions include but are not limited to aortic aneurysms, hemodialysis access in patients…
Nearly all vascular interventions are prone to the development of neointimal hyperplasia because any manipulation of the arterial wall induces endothelial cell injury. Current enthusiasm for less invasive but more locally injurious percutaneous peripheral vascular therapies increases the importance of…
Introduction Access to the vascular system in order to perform life-sustaining dialysis in the face of renal failure remains an important and challenging clinical scenario for vascular surgeons. The number of individuals requiring vascular access for hemodialysis continues to rise.…
Lymphedema is an important topic for vascular surgeons for three reasons. First, it is very common. There are hundreds of thousands of lymphedema patients in the United States, and hundreds of millions are affected worldwide. Second, even the best surgeons…