Diabetes - 3 warnings signs of vascular disease
High blood sugar, as seen in diabetes, weakens arteries and makes them vulnerable to plaque buildup. When this happens, it’s difficult for oxygen-rich blood to reach parts of the body. In its most severe form, PAD can result in amputation of the toes, feet or even the leg. Around 80 to 90 percent of all amputations are performed on patients with diabetes.
“Patients with diabetes are at increased risk for developing foot ulcers,” said member of the Society for Vascular Surgery and a surgeon researcher at Harvard University. Recent findings, reported in the Journal of Vascular Surgery from a research team led that diabetic patients who require insulin have a higher chance of complications after surgery for PAD.
“We also found that insulin-dependent patients tended to be younger, had more tissue loss at presentation, and suffered from more heart and kidney disease,” member of the research team. “Unfortunately, patients who require insulin are more likely to undergo amputation. For this reason, it’s important that we learn more about treating this group of patients so that we can improve their long-term outcomes.”
Who can survive a ruptured rAAA?
The Society for Vascular Surgery reports that, based on a study of 330 rAAA patients at Harborview Medical Center (Seattle, Wash.), the risk-scoring measurement offers a quick way to evaluate emergency room patients on the likelihood that they can survive rAAA surgery. The risk score was recently published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery and was developed professor of surgery, and his colleagues in the division of vascular surgery at University of Washington.
The abdominal aorta is a large artery that serves the entire lower half of the body. If the artery has an aneurysm that ruptures, death can follow within a short time. But despite the danger, some patients can be saved with surgery.
“It’s a shock for the family,” he said. “They might have been eating dinner and all the sudden they are in the emergency room and someone might be about to die. If the family really wants everything done, and if the patients can survive transport, we will try to get them through the procedure. However, the patient may not ever go home and might have a rocky hospital course ahead.”
Who can survive a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm?
The abdominal aorta is a large artery that serves the entire lower half of the body. If the artery has an aneurysm that ruptures, death can follow within a short time. But despite the danger, some patients can be saved with surgery.
Ruptured AAA surgery is a vascular specialty usually handled at larger hospitals that have vascular surgeons on staff. Typically, a rural hospital may have no vascular surgeon available for that type of urgent surgery, In such cases, the ER physician will call a vascular surgeon to discuss what to do. What follows is a fast, but life-altering conversation about how likely it is that the patient can survive transport and surgery. Most patents are elderly and have other health issues that can impact their survival.
Knowing those odds may help a family understand that it is not advisable to put their loved one through the trauma and pain of a surgery that won’t ultimately extend life, he noted.