Best Way to Treat Blockage of Arteries
Arteries are blood vessels that allow blood to pass through them to different parts of the body. Blood supplies the body's organs with the food and oxygen needed to perform the functions optimally. Sometimes the arteries are blocked and occlusion of the peripheral arteries occurs (arms and legs) which is more common among people.
Why do Arterial Blockages occur?
Blockage of arteries occurs as a result of the accumulation of fatty substances and cholesterol on the internal walls of the artery leading to its narrowing and obstruction; This makes it difficult for blood to flow naturally to the limbs and is caused by several reasons, including:
• Hypercholesterolemia.
• Developing certain diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
• Overweight.
• Smoking.
• Age.
What are the symptoms of blocked arteries in the leg?
Blockage of arteries affects adequate blood access to the limbs; This leads to pain. The stage of the onset of symptoms varies from person to person depending on the nature of the body, and symptoms of blockage of the arteries in the legs appear as follows:
• Foot pain: The patient feels pain in the feet, especially when walking a long distance and using the stairs, where the legs need large amounts of blood to perform activities and because of the poor blood reach to the feet leads the patient to feel pain that goes away during rest.
• Feeling pain during rest especially at night.
• Change in the color and texture of the skin.
• Feeling cold down the feet.
• Infection of wounds that are difficult to heal.
• Sometimes the patient feels severe pain that affects walking in a proper way.
Best way to treat blockage of arteries:
Leg artery blockage is treated through a non-surgical operation that aimed to remove the blockage in the artery and return normal blood flow to the limbs.
Procedure steps:
• The skin is sterilized with special substances and then a very small opening is made to insert the catheter on the top of the thigh.
• The doctor uses local anaesthesia so that the patient does not feel any pain during the procedure.
• The catheter is inserted and is connected to a screen through which the doctor can follow the procedure.
• Colored pigment is injected to visualize the artery from inside and determine the area of blockage.
• A tube with a balloon is inserted at its end. Upon reaching the area of blockage, the balloon is inflated to widen the artery and remove the blockage.
• Sometimes inflating the balloon is not enough to remove the blockage; So a metal stent is placed to help the artery stay open.
• The artery is photographed as a last stage to ensure that the blockage is gone and the operation is successful.
• After that the tube is removed and the area of its entry is pressed for 10 minutes to avoid bleeding.
• The operation takes about half an hour and the patient can return home after few hours of the procedure.
Advantages of using catheters to treat blockage of arteries:
• You do not need to use general anaesthesia.
• The patient can return to activities the day after the procedure.
• There are no surgical wounds or scars.
Prevention of blockage of arteries:
The risk of blockage of arteries can be prevented by following some guidelines that include changing wrong habits and sticking to healthy habits, including:
• Quitting smoking.
• Getting rid of excess weight.
• Maintaining normal blood glucose rates.
• Caring to eat healthy foods and avoid eating food with high-fat content, especially saturated fats.
• Doing Exercise.
• Taking care of the feet and keep them clean.
Dr. Waleed El-Daly, Professor of Vascular Surgery, Endovascular surgery and Diabetic Foot Treatment at Cairo University, provides many services using advanced medical techniques in the treatment of blockage of peripheral arteries without surgery.
