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There are many reasons why patients may want to consider en-dovenous ablation for treating their veins. This minimally inva-sive, quick and easy treatment option provides:

An improved body image and confdence in one’s appearance Compared with conventional surgery, endovascular repair has important advantages. Generally, patients have shorter hospital stays, less pain and fewer complications. Endovascular surgery may also be a safer option for anyone with a health problem that heightens the risks of major surgery.

Despite the advantages of endovascular procedures, convention-al surgery still has its place, since a minimally invasive operation may not be technically feasible or even safe in some cases.

The bottom line: Whenever surgery is a possibility, ask your doctor what all your options are and what benefts and risks they carry.

doctor might suggest other treatments, including minimally in-vasive surgery.

“PAD can be treated now with angioplasty and stenting or arthrectomy, which excises the built-up plaque,” Dr. Zahradnik said. “The procedure is minimally invasive and is performed through a small incision in the groin slightly bigger than a stan-dard IV catheter.”

Today endovascular surgery is also used to repair aneurysms— weak spots in blood vessels that bulge and might burst and cause deadly bleeding. Often it treats aneurysms that form in the aorta, the body’s largest artery.

Doctors make small incisions in the groin so that a tiny tube called a stent graft can be guided through blood vessels to the aneurysm. Then they expand the stent graft and anchor it in place inside the aorta. It reinforces the weakened section of the vessel, helping to keep the artery from bursting.

In contrast, conventional aneurysm surgery requires a major incision. Doctors cut into either the chest or the abdomen, de-pending on where the aneurysm is located. Next, they remove the fragile section of the aorta and replace it with synthetic material.

Varicose veins are another common type of vascular disease, and physicians use endovenous ablation for treatment. During this procedure, radio frequency or laser energy is used to cauter-ize the vein that can be bulgy, unattractive and often painful. The lining is heated from within, damaging it and causing it to collapse, shrink and eventually disappear. This technique typi-cally takes less than 30 minutes to perform and can be done in the doctor’s offce.

Vladimir Zahradnik, MD, Jackson Clinic, vascular surgeon, in one of Jackson Hospital’s advanced cardiovascular procedure suites.