Peripheral Vascular Procedures

At El Camino Health, our vascular specialists can restore blood flow in blocked arteries — called peripheral artery disease (PAD) — using minimally invasive vascular procedures.

Our vascular surgeons specialize in catheter-based approaches to treat conditions such as aortic aneurysms, blockages and other conditions. These advanced procedures only require a tiny incision in your upper thigh or arm where your doctor inserts a catheter — a thin, flexible tube — into a large blood vessel that leads to your heart. Catheters can be fitted with lasers and deliver clot-busting medications and other therapies to provide lifesaving and limb-sparing treatment, offering an alternative to open surgery.

Vascular surgeons work collaboratively with surgeons and other specialists to provide comprehensive care for even the most complex vascular conditions. We offer a wide range of treatments, including:

• Endovascular aneurysm repair. An aneurysm occurs when part of an artery wall weakens, causing it to balloon out. Depending on the aneurysm’s size, shape and location, your doctor may perform endovascular (treatment within a blood vessel) repair. In this procedure, your doctor guides a catheter to the aneurysm and places a stent or coil to prevent the aneurysm from rupturing.
• Peripheral artery stenting. Your doctor can perform balloon angioplasty to widen a blocked or narrowed area in an artery and insert a stent to hold it open.
• Peripheral arterial bypass. In cases in which angioplasty and stenting aren’t possible, your doctor may use a vessel from another part of your body, known as a graft, to reroute — or bypass — blood around the blockage, restoring blood flow.
• Hybrid vascular procedures. These procedures combine minimally invasive surgery and catheter-based techniques to treat vascular disease. Doctors use multiple treatments, such as surgical removal of plaque (endarterectomy), stents, grafts and bypass techniques to open blockages and repair vessels. El Camino Health has a fully equipped surgical suite/imaging lab and doctors who are specially trained in both surgery and catheter-based procedures.
• Limb-salvage procedures. Our vascular experts can use a wide range of minimally invasive techniques to save limbs, including stent placement and bypasses. We offer minimally invasive approaches to treat even the most advanced conditions, offering an alternative to amputation.