It’s no secret that people are busier than ever. No matter your profession or the lifestyle you lead, we all want everything a little faster and a lot more convenient, particularly when it comes to our health. However, we want that convenience without sacrificing quality of care.
This shift in societal priority has led to many advances in all medical fields. One of the most notable in the area of vascular surgery has been the advent of outpatient angiographic centers (angiocenters), which allow patients the convenience of quick, in-office care without sacrificing the safety, accuracy or success of their procedures.
In the past, patients were required to go to a hospital in order to receive minimally invasive endovascular* intervention such as fistulagrams for hemodialysis or lower extremity angiograms for PAD.* Patients were seen by multiple caregivers (none of which were the ones they saw at their doctor’s office) in coronary catheterization rooms, interventional radiology rooms, or operating rooms, and often, they would be required to stay overnight.
Even if the procedures were performed on an outpatient basis, by the time patients had completed the admission process, the procedure and pre-and-post operative care, they had typically spent up to ten hours at the hospital.
As a result, hemodialysis patients who already were already committing up to four hours per day, three days a week for their hemodialysis sessions, were spending an extra eight to ten hours on a fourth day in the hospital for their fisulagram. Now, these patients can come to the outpatient angiocenter at Lam Vascular & Associates, be seen by Dr. Lam and be out in about an hour for fistula maintenance.
In the past few years, we’ve also been able to add minimally invasive treatments for peripheral artery disease (PAD) and varicose veins to our list of in-office procedures.
Patients can quickly check-in with our friendly front desk team instead of waiting in line for general admission into the hospital. They are prepped for their procedures by our experienced nursing staff before seeing Dr. Lam. It is just as safe, if not safer, than having the procedure in the hospital, and instead of being cared for by a musical round of physicians in a disruptive, impersonal setting, Dr. Lam is on hand from start to finish, so patients are assured that they are in good hands.
The same team that cares for patients preoperatively is the team to care for them postoperatively. Once patients are able to walk and have reviewed their medication and recovery timeline with one of our nurses, they are released to go home.
To learn more about the treatments and procedures we offer or to schedule an appointment, click here or call us at 214.345.4160.
*Definitions:
Endovascular literally means “inside blood vessels.” It’s the term used for procedures performed by vascular surgeons that require only a small incision in an artery or vein using special technologies and/or instruments.
Fistulagram is an X-ray procedure used to look at the blood flow and check for blood clots or other blockages in a fistula (passage between a hollow or tubular organ and the body surface, or between two hollow or tubular organs).
Hemodialysis is the process that uses a man-made membrane (dialyzer) to remove waste from the blood and restore its proper balance of electrolytes.
Angiogram is an X-ray test that uses a special dye and camera to take pictures of the blood flow in an artery.
The information contained in this article is not intended to be used as a substitute for medical advice. Patient results will vary based on risk factors, age, disease and medical history and are not guaranteed in any way.
