The Vascular Surgery team at the University of Michigan is dedicated to providing exceptional patient care in the U-M Cardiovascular Center (CVC), our new state-of-the-art clinical building.

Our surgeons have extensive experience performing angioplasty and stent placement and have pioneered many techniques for the treatment of peripheral arterial disease.

What is angioplasty?

As you age, plaque - a material made of cholesterol, calcium and fibrous tissue Ð can build up along the walls of your arteries. As more plaque accumulates, your arteries narrow and stiffen. Eventually, enough plaque builds up to reduce blood flow or cause irregularities in the normally smooth inner walls of the arteries.

Angioplasty is a procedure in which your vascular surgeon inserts a balloon catheter into a blocked artery to unblock the artery.

Who is a good candidate for angioplasty?

You are a good candidate for an angioplasty if you have severe narrowing of any of your peripheral arteries and the blockage is producing a problem. renal For example, a blockage can occur in your leg arteries producing pain in your legs when you walk, it could be in the arteries that supply your brain making you at risk for stroke, or they could be in your kidney arteries causing sever hypertension.

List of U-M Vascular Surgeons Who Perform Angioplasty

For details about education, experience, and specialty in this clinical area, please visits these physician profile pages:

How do I prepare for an angioplasty?

Your doctor will give you detailed instructions. These may include a suggestion to eat a light meal the night before the procedure and to not eat or drink anything after midnight before the procedure. If you regularly take any important medicines, your physician may ask you to take them on the day of surgery with a sip of water.

Follow your doctor's instructions about not smoking before and after the procedure. Smokers heal more slowly after surgery. They are also more likely to have breathing problems during surgery. For this reason, if you are a smoker, you should quit at least 2 weeks before the procedure. It is best to quit 6 to 8 weeks before surgery. Also, your body will heal much better if you do not smoke after the surgery.

Other Considerations

Plan for your care and transportation after the procedure and during recovery at home.
Before the procedure tell your health care provider if you have had any kidney problems or reactions to iodine-containing foods or chemicals, such as seafood or kidney contrast dye.
Before surgery, your health care provider will ask you to sign a consent form for angioplasty, bypass surgery, and angiography. (Angiography is an X-ray study of the blood vessels using dye.) This consent form is needed in case problems arise during the angioplasty and emergency surgery is needed.
You will have blood tests, and an electrocardiogram (ECG) before the procedure.
Someone at the hospital will shave and wash the area where the catheter will be inserted (arm or groin) to help prevent infection.

What happens during the procedure?

You will be given a local anesthetic to numb the area where the catheter will be inserted. You will stay awake during the procedure.

Your vascular surgeon provider will thread a thin wire into the blocked artery through a needle inserted into the blood vessel in your groin. Dye is injected dye into the artery, and X-rays are taken while the dye moves through your artery. Using these X-ray images, a balloon catheter will be placed across the blockage over a wire. A catheter is a thin tube inserted into a blood vessel in your groin. Then the balloon is inflated across the narrowed artery to dilate the blockage. You may feel mild discomfort while the balloon is inflated.

The balloon and catheter are then removed.. The stretching of the artery greatly improves blood flow through the artery. Often a metal device called a stent is left in the artery to improve chances that the blood vessel will stay open.

What happens after the procedure?

You will go back to your hospital room and rest in bed for 12 to 24 hours. You will most likely be able to go home the next day. You can usually resume normal activity within a day or two.

People with successful arterialartery angioplasty and stenting have good long-term results. Some people's arteries may narrow again and may require angioplasty again. This usually happens within 6 months of having the procedure.

What are the benefits of this procedure?

It can restore blood flow to the legs, kidneys or brain without major surgery.
It does not require replacing blood vessels in one part of your body with blood vessels removed from another part of your body (as is often necessary in bypass surgery).
It can be performed without using general anesthesia.

What are the risks?

You may have an allergic reaction to the local anesthetic or x-ray dye.
You may bleed a lot and need medicine or a blood transfusion.
The artery may be damaged. For example, the artery might be perforated during the procedure. Emergency bypass surgery or repair of the perforation (hole) would then be needed.
There is a risk of injury to the groin where the catheter was inserted.
The blockage may come back after 3 to 6 months.
Although rare, a procedure involving the brain arteries could cause a stroke.

There is risk with every treatment or procedure. Talk to your surgeon for complete information about how the risks apply to you.

How can I take care of myself?

Do not smoke.
Eat a healthy diet that is low in fat and cholesterol.
Exercise according to your health care provider's recommendation.
Keep your appointment for your scheduled post-discharge office visit.

When should I call my health care provider?

Call your health care provider right away if:

You have chest pain.
You have constant or worsening pain or numbness in your arm or leg.
You have a fever.
You have shortness of breath.
Your leg becomes blue and cold.
You have bleeding, excess bruising, or a lot of swelling where the catheter was inserted.

Call your health care provider during office hours if:

You have questions about the procedure or its result.
You want to make another appointment.

Make an appointment or contact us for more information.