3 days ago
Breakthrough procedure helps prevent amputations for Sacramento area patients
( — A breakthrough surgery helping save limbs and lives took place in Sacramento on Wednesday morning.
The procedure aims to treat people suffering from Peripheral Artery Disease. PAD is a serious and rarely-treated circulatory condition that restricts blood flow to the limbs due to narrowed blood vessels. It kills more people than breast, colon, and prostate cancer combined.
'Plaque that builds up in these arteries causes not only hardening of the arteries but also plaque in these blood vessels,' said Dr. Inder Singh, an interventional cardiovascular specialist at TLC Vascular.
When blood can't flow properly, minor wounds can become dangerous. They can lead to infection and, in some cases, amputation.
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'If they get an injury or they get a wound or they get a scratch, those will not heal because they don't have enough, adequate perfusion to heal those wounds,' Dr. Singh said.
Helping to change patient outcomes, Dr. Singh is now performing a first-of-its-kind procedure using a newly FDA-cleared removable stent called SPUR.
'The idea with it is that basically that kind of treatment that deep penetrates into the tissue and treats it, it will prevent future closure or at least prolong the time from when the blood vessels close,' said Dr. Singh. 'Enabling the patients to be able to heal their wounds, which is really the main outcome we're looking for.'
is the first in the Sacramento area to use SPUR, designed specifically for the small, fragile arteries below the knee. Unlike a traditional stent, the spur temporarily holds the vessel open and then is removed, leaving nothing behind.
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'We can see somebody on an outpatient basis one day and actually fix a problem rather than put a band-aid on, you know, the incorrect problem,' said Shelby Adney, a nurse practitioner at TLC Vascular.
It's an innovative procedure now preventing amputations, healing wounds, and maintaining patients' normal lives.
'Once you can preserve that and heal their wounds… they get their life back,' Dr. Singh said. 'They're ambulatory. They can spend time with their family. You can do a lot of things that most people expect to do.'
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