American Hospital Dubai offers treatment for arterial thrombosis

For decades, surgical treatment was the standard therapy. Another option is catheter-directed intra-arterial thrombolysis. One of the most modern technologies for the treatment of this life-threatening condition is the endo-vascular mechanical thrombectomy.

- Dr Eyad Hassan, Consultant Cardiovascular surgeon, AHD

Dr Hassan explains, “There’s been a necessity for a minimally invasive way to quickly remove the relatively large thrombus mass, especially in the aging population. This approach is feasible by using percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy devices. They enable rapid removal of thrombus that is comparable to surgical embolectomy with the advantage of selective angiography-controlled procedure, mostly followed by other adjunctive endo-vascular procedures such as balloon angioplasty, stenting, selective thrombus aspirationt from small arteries, and, if necessary, adjunctive local intra-arterial fibrinolysis. These procedures require only local anesthesia.”

When surgical approach is used as first-line of treatment, and if it is ineffective for the distal tibial and pedal arteries, the possibility of adjunctive thrombolysis for outflow obstruction is limited because of high risk of bleeding from surgical wounds. “To keep all possibilities open and be able to remove large amount of thrombus at the same time, the percutaneous mechanical thrombectomy is the first approach for us at the American Hospital Dubai.”

Among other thrombectomy devices on the market, Rotarex S (Straub Medical AG) is used at the hospital due to its ability to aspirate both fresh and old thrombus.