When the body is working at its best, blood flows smoothly through the arteries and veins, circulating throughout the body. But sometimes that blood flow is disrupted. When that happens, a team of vascular surgeons at West Tennessee Healthcare can help.
Specialized Care for Vascular Health
You may never have actually thought about your vascular system, except when you learned about it in school. But vascular health plays an important role in your overall health.
The vascular system, also called the circulatory system, encompasses the elaborate system of veins and arteries throughout the body, along with the lymph system. These blood vessels are responsible for carrying blood to various parts of the body, making sure that organs, tissues, and other body parts have the essential oxygen, nutrients, and hormones they need to function.
Optimally, the vascular system works much like a system of roads. But like a traffic jam or wreck can impede cars from traveling along roads, medical conditions can sometimes disrupt the normal flow of blood.
When this happens, certain parts of your body may be deprived of the blood and nutrients they need. A vascular surgeon can help determine the underlying cause and offer treatment options, including vascular surgery or endovascular surgery when needed.
Care for a Full Spectrum of Vascular Needs
Depending on the area of the body affected, problems related to vascular health can vary in severity, sometimes even becoming life-threatening, as in the case of stroke or aneurysm.
The conditions responsible for disruptions in blood flow fall under the umbrella of vascular disease. Vascular surgeons provide medical care for many different vascular diseases affecting multiple parts of the body, including:
- Chest and abdomen (conditions such as abdominal aortic aneurysm, thoracic aortic aneurysm, and aortic dissection)
- Head and neck (conditions such as stroke and carotid disease)
- Lower extremity (conditions such as femoral aneurysms and venous reflux, along with symptoms such as non-healing wounds)
- Upper extremity (conditions such as arterial occlusive disease or thoracic outlet syndrome)
Beyond caring for specific vascular diseases, our vascular surgeons also provide other services, including the surveillance of EVAR and TEVAR, management of hemodialysis access and care for related conditions, and the treatment of vascular infections.
While you might naturally think vascular surgeons provide only vascular surgery, our vascular surgeons—Nestor Arita, MD, and Jonathan Braun, MD—are experts in comprehensive care for vascular diseases, including both nonsurgical interventions and surgical treatment.
Treatment for vascular diseases can range from lifestyle changes and medication to minimally invasive procedures (known as endovascular surgery) and traditional open procedures (known as vascular surgery). Because these conditions can also recur after treatment, vascular surgeons maintain an ongoing relationship with patients to provide observation and additional care when needed.
NONDISCRIMINATION NOTICE STATEMENT
West Tennessee Healthcare (WTH) does not exclude, deny benefits to, or otherwise discriminate against any person on the grounds of race, color, national origin, age, religion, disability, Limited English Proficiency or sex, including discrimination based on gender identity, sexual orientation, sex stereotyping or pregnancy in admission to, participation in, or receipt of the services and benefits under any of its programs and activities, whether carried out by WTH directly or through a contractor or any other entity with which WTH arranges to carry out its programs and activities.
For further information about this policy, contact Amy Garner (731) 541-9914.