When you have been suffering from chronic leg problems, you may wonder if there will ever be anything that will help you to overcome your discomfort and other issues. If your doctor comes to the conclusion that a peripheral arterial bypass surgery will be the right treatment option for you, then you are well on your way to getting the end results you want. However, you will want to get a better understanding of what a peripheral arterial bypass surgery entails before you go into your vascular surgeon’s office in Bergen County, New Jersey on the day of your surgery so that you can be prepared for the procedure and recovery and not be surprised in the process.
What Does A Peripheral Arterial Bypass Surgery Treat?
The purpose of a peripheral arterial bypass surgery is to deal with a problem in the blood flow in your leg. When an artery is blocked, the blood is not able to flow properly to and from your leg. This can cause problems including pain and discomfort as well as poor circulation, difficulty moving and even tissue death if the blocked artery is large enough to cause a major problem in your leg. A peripheral arterial bypass surgery is a vascular surgery that provides you with a solution to this problem.
How Does A Peripheral Arterial Bypass Surgery Work?
When your doctor diagnoses you with a blocked artery in your leg, they will need to figure out a way to restore the blood supply to and from your leg. A peripheral arterial bypass accomplishes this goal. It closes off the problem artery where it is blocked and reroutes the blood supply elsewhere.
This involves precisely cutting the artery and attaching the cut area to another artery that is not blocked. This vascular rerouting procedure is simple in theory but can be challenging because the arteries are so delicate and small. Additionally, depending on the extent of your blockages as well as their locations, the surgery may be done further down in the leg closer to the knee or higher up in the area around the hip.
What Is Recovery Like From Peripheral Arterial Bypass Surgery Like?
When you come out of surgery, the recovery process depends on how far up your body the bypass needed to occur. If it is one of the larger arteries, you may need to recover on complete bed rest for a few days for observation.
This is to ensure you do not develop blood clots and that the surgery was a success. The total stay in the hospital under normal circumstances can be about a week. While in the hospital, you will slowly begin to walk again under supervision so that your medical team can ensure that the newly routed artery holds and you do not have other complications. Once your doctors are certain your leg has a proper blood supply and you are able to walk easily, you will be able to resume your normal life and activities.
Now that you better understand peripheral arterial bypass surgery, you can prepare yourself for this vascular surgery and the recovery process.