What diseases do vascular surgeons see What diseases do vascular surgeons see? This question is not understood by many people, even some medical professionals. This is not surprising, as vascular surgery is one of the youngest surgical specialties. It is only in the last 10 years or so that vascular surgery has become a separate specialty in China. Many of the predecessors of vascular surgeons were general surgeons. It is no wonder that vascular surgery used to be a branch of general surgery. Although I received my degree in vascular surgery in 1992 and received my specialty training in vascular surgery in the United States, it took me 10 years of clinical experience in general surgery before I formally practiced independent vascular surgery. In English, vascular surgery literally includes all blood vessels in the human body, but it does not. Strictly speaking, vascular surgery should be called peripheral vascular surgery. Except for the intracranial, heart and thoracic vascular areas, all vascular lesions belong to the vascular surgery category. The intracranial vascular belongs to neurology, and the cardiac vascular belongs to cardiovascular surgery. Of course, there are some vascular and other disciplines crossover. For example, thoracic aortic coarctation and cardiothoracic surgery intersect, carotid stenosis and neurosurgery intersect, and portal hypertension and general surgery intersect. Four of the most common vascular surgical conditions are described below: Venous insufficiency Venous insufficiency often manifests clinically as varicose veins in the lower extremities. Traditionally, varicose veins in the lower extremities are referred to as “saphenous varicose veins”, which is not scientific and can lead to misdiagnosis and misdiagnosis. The causes of varicose veins in the lower extremities are not only the common saphenous vein lesions, but also small saphenous vein lesions, traffic vein lesions, deep vein blockage, and arteriovenous fistulas. The consequences and complications of venous insufficiency include: calf ulcers, skin darkening, thrombosis, bruising dermatitis, bleeding, etc. Venous thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis mostly occurs in the lower extremities, and the clinical manifestation is often unilateral (left side is more common) swelling and pain in the lower extremities. Prolonged sitting, long-distance flight, major surgery, tumor, long-term bed rest, and trauma are all factors that cause venous thrombosis. The dangers of venous thrombosis (especially deep vein thrombosis) include pulmonary embolism, post-thrombotic syndrome, and femoral cyanosis. Arteriosclerotic occlusive disease Hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and advanced age are important factors in arteriosclerotic occlusive disease. The early clinical manifestation of lower extremity arterial occlusion is “intermittent claudication”, which means that after walking a certain distance, the lower extremity becomes sore and swollen and is forced to rest, and then after a few minutes it is possible to walk the same distance again. If the disease progresses, resting pain and even gangrene can occur. Abdominal aortic aneurysm The dangers of abdominal aortic aneurysm: hemorrhagic shock due to aneurysm rupture, compression of surrounding organs, embolism of lower extremity arteries due to attached plaque or thrombus dislodgement, etc. Generally, vascular surgical intervention should be considered for abdominal aortic aneurysms over 5.5 cm in diameter. There is no need to be overly nervous about having vascular disease. The results of early diagnosis and treatment are mostly satisfactory.