Posted on July 26, 2022
PCI Offers Highly Advanced Vascular Surgery Right Here in Cedar Rapids
Vascular surgeons manage diseases of the arteries and veins outside of the heart and brain. You might be referred to a vascular surgeon to treat conditions such as Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), some forms of stroke, or an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
At PCI, vascular surgeons offer skilled diagnosis, minimally invasive treatments and comprehensive care for patients with vascular disease. PCI’s surgeons are the only medical providers to offer a full range of peripheral vascular treatment options in Cedar Rapids, from minimally invasive techniques to complicated traditional procedures such as bypass surgery. The sole focus of their practice is the treatment of vascular disease.
PCI also offers the only office-based angiography suite in the area. “Previously, these procedures could only be done at the hospital, but now PCI surgeons routinely perform complex angiographic interventions using state-of-the-art techniques in a comfortable patient-centered environment, and at a much lower cost than can be offered in a hospital,” said David Lawrence, MD, PCI vascular surgeon. “Furthermore, the vascular surgeons at PCI are the only Cedar Rapids area physicians who are actually board certified in Peripheral Vascular Surgery. Board certification means your doctor completed advanced training in a vascular surgery fellowship and successfully passed a rigorous examination process. Our surgeons chose to achieve this higher standard that we must then maintain throughout our careers.”
Another minimally invasive surgery PCI vascular has pioneered in the area is the use of a breakthrough technique called TransCarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR) to treat patients with carotid artery disease who are at risk for open surgery.
“We treat atherosclerotic disease of the carotid arteries to prevent stroke. While any intervention of the carotid artery carries some risk of causing a stroke during the operation, TCAR was designed to help minimize that risk by keeping potential stroke-causing fragments away from the brain,” Dr. Lawrence said.
Like the open surgery, carotid endarterectomy (CEA), this new procedure involves direct access to the carotid artery, but through a much smaller incision at the neckline just above the clavicle, instead of a longer incision on the neck. During the TCAR procedure, a tube inserted into the carotid artery is connected to a system that temporarily directs blood flow away from the brain to protect against dangerous debris from reaching the brain during the procedure. Surgeons then filter the blood before returning it to a vein in the groin, and a stent is implanted directly into the carotid artery to stabilize the plaque and prevent future strokes. The entire procedure is performed in less than half the time of CEA – limiting the stress on the heart and significantly cutting the risk of the patient having either a stroke or heart attack during the procedure.
“Patients who undergo the TCAR procedure recover quickly,” Dr. Lawrence said. “They almost always go home the next day after surgery, returning to full and productive lives with less pain, smaller scars and a low risk of future strokes. PCI vascular has far and away to most experience with TCAR in the state of Iowa and has been awarded as a TCAR center of excellence.”
PCI Vascular & Endovascular Surgery