Stent and balloon can cure ‘stop-and-go’ disease

Most people are aware of diseases such as “stroke”, “coronary heart disease”, “myocardial infarction” and the serious consequences of these diseases, but few people know about “But few people know about arteriosclerosis of the lower extremities. In fact, the cause of these diseases is the same, i.e., arteriosclerosis, only the parts of the body are different. Arteriosclerosis is a disease that involves blood vessels all over the body, if the arteriosclerosis of the brain is heavier, it may produce “stroke”; the coronary artery of the heart is heavier, it may appear “heart attack”; and the arteries of the lower limbs are heavier, it may be manifested as “Lower extremity arterial occlusion. The consequence of atherosclerosis is that it can cause blockage of arterial blood vessels, leading to insufficient blood supply to tissues and organs, and showing a series of special symptoms of insufficient blood supply to different organs. For example, if the patient has difficulty in walking, the medical term “intermittent claudication” is one of the typical symptoms of arteriosclerosis of the lower limbs. This is because, when the patient’s lower limb arteries are narrowed or blocked, the legs will not get enough oxygen and other nutrients, and then soreness, fatigue and even pain, so that the patient can only stand still, so that the legs temporarily “stop working”, and so that the blood flow gradually make up for the nutrients after the legs to continue to walk. It should be pointed out that intermittent claudication is only the initial clinical manifestation, and another typical symptom will appear when it continues to develop, which is medically known as “resting pain”. As the name suggests, the pain starts when the leg is moving, but now it is also when it is still. This pain is caused by ischemia of the limb and is very intense. The patient’s pain during the day is so severe that he can’t think about his meals, and at night it is even worse, often tossing and turning all night long, so he has to bend his knees and stroke his feet. Over time, the patient’s physical and mental health is severely damaged, and may even have the idea of dying. The lesions can develop downward to tissue necrosis, from the toe ulcers, and gradually upward to blackened skin and tissue, wrinkles, necrosis and even fall off, and can be extended to the entire limb. There are two main types of treatment for atherosclerotic occlusive disease: the main measure of conservative therapy is the application of vasodilator drugs, but only for those who have narrowing of the arteries but not completely occluded have a certain effect. Surgery is the most effective method, and a surgical procedure called “arterial bypass” or “arterial bypass” is mainly used, i.e., an artificial blood vessel, or another blood vessel from the patient, is anastomosed on both sides of the blocked section of the artery so that the blood flow is directed to the ischemic tissue bypassing the blockage. The procedure involves anastomosing the two sides of the blocked section of the artery with an artificial blood vessel or another vessel taken from the patient’s body, so that blood flow is diverted to the ischemic tissue or organ. However, this kind of surgery also has problems, such as more and longer blocked segments, the longer and more bypasses are needed, so the trauma caused by the surgery is also greater, and the chance of re-embolization in the bypass after the surgery is also greater. In recent years, with the improvement of endoluminal vascular treatment technology, many new methods have appeared, such as balloon dilatation angioplasty and stenting. The principle of balloon dilatation angioplasty is that a catheter with a balloon is delivered to the narrowed segment of the artery through a skin puncture, filling up the balloon and opening up the narrowed vessel. This technique can replace some of the bypass surgery, but the chance of re-stenosis and blockage in the short term after the procedure is quite high. Stentoplasty is based on the principle that a catheter containing a metal stent is delivered through a skin puncture to the site of the stenosis or occlusion, and the stent’s supportive force opens up the narrowed vessel to allow blood flow. This technique can also replace some of the bypass surgery, but only for relatively short stenoses or occlusions. However, symptoms often recur after stenting and are mostly caused by the continued development of lesions elsewhere in the neighborhood. The preferred approach is a minimally invasive combination therapy, which involves first puncturing and balloon dilatation of the short-segment stenosis, then placing an arterial stent in the same puncture channel, followed by a small-incision subcutaneous bypass of the longer, completely occluded trunk artery. This reduces the number and length of bypasses, as well as the number of vascular anastomoses and the number of comprehensive skin incisions, and realizes multiple modalities of treatment through a single route.