EMBOLECTOMY
An emoblectomy removes a blood clot that moved from where it started in a blood vessel to another part of your body. Your healthcare provider can do a minimally invasive procedure using a catheter or do a traditionally surgery. You'll need about a week to recover in the hospital after surgery.
What is an embolectomy?
An embolectomy- also sometimes called thrombectomy - is the removal of a blood clot(thrombus) that's keeping blood from flowing through a blood vessel normally.
The blood clot may have formed in one part of your body(like your legs) and moved somewhere else(to your lungs,for example). That type of clot is an embolus.
Or, the blood clot may have formed directly in the place where it's causing problems. That type of clot is a thrombus. A surgeon or a doctor trained in minimally invasive procedures can perform embolectomy/thrombectomy(clot removal) Depending on the size and location of the clot, this can be an urgent procedure because the clot prevents blood from getting to an important part of your body.
On the one hand your blood needs to be able to clot so you don't bleed too much when you have a cut. But some people have blood that tries to clot too much in places it shouldn't. In these cases, your healthcare provider may need to remove the clot.
Who needs to have an embolectomy?
If you have deep vein thrombosis of the leg, it can travel to your lungs and lead to a condition known as pulmonary embolism. If your healthcare provider can't take care of it with medications, you may need an embolectomy/thrombectomy procedure.
You may be ore likely to ge a blood clot(whether you're bleeding or not) if you have:
- Heart disease
- Obesity
- Pregnancy
- Cancer
- Certain blood clotting disorders
Why is an embolectomy done?
Your healthcare provider may do an embolectomy if you have pulmonary(lung) embolism or a blood clot in the right side of your heart and one of these is true:
- You can't have articoagulants or thrombolytics(clot-busting medicine)
- Anticoagulants or thrombolytics didn't work
- You're at risk for paradoxical embolism(when a blood clot can move through a defect in you heart and possibly go to your brain or other important parts of your body)
Most people who have a blood clot that's causing problems receive medicine for it instead of having surgery. However, surgery and other less invasive procedures are options depending on the situation. A team of healthcare providers typically decides on a person by person basis
What are the advantages of an embolectomyy?
Not everyone is a candidate for an embolectomy. But embolectomy(through either surgery or a minimally invasive procedure) may be the better choice it.
- You're not a candidate for blod thinners or clot-busting medicine injected through an IV
- You're not getting after IV medications and supportive care
- You're symptoms are severe enough to choose a faster treatment to get the blood clot out of you
What is the recovery time?
With a pulmonary embolectomy, you'll be in the hospital for at least a day or two until your breathing and heart function look good enough to go home. You may spend some time in the intensive care unit(ICU). Healing after a surgical embolectomy is usually longer than from a catheter embolectomy.