Surgeon’s procedure can avoid amputation, early death
by Eddie Roach
Approximately 185,000 amputations occur in the U.S. each year, and there are nearly 2 million people living with limb loss in this country. Among those living with limb loss, the main causes are vascular disease (54%) — including diabetes and peripheral arterial disease — trauma (45%) and cancer (less than 2%).
Nearly half of the individuals who have an amputation due to vascular disease will die within 5 years. This is higher than the five-year mortality rates for breast cancer, colon cancer and prostate cancer.
These statistics from the National Institutes of Health may be shocking to some, but vascular surgeon Dr. Jim Melton and his team are motivated to share the message that amputation can be prevented if peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is diagnosed early and proper treatment is performed.
“PAD affects nearly 18 million Americans, but knowing the signs early can help prevent you or a loved one from losing a limb,” said Jim Melton, D.O., co-founder of the CardioVascular Health Clinic.
PAD is caused by a buildup of plaque on the interior walls of the arteries. Your arteries carry blood from your heart to your legs and feet. However, when arteries begin to harden and constrict due to plaque buildup — a process referred to as atherosclerosis — healthy blood flow is severely diminished.
Melton said you may have PAD if you are suffering from one or more of the following symptoms:
• Tiredness, heaviness, or cramping in the leg muscles
• Toes or feet that look pale, discolored, or blue
• Leg or foot pain that disturbs your sleep
• Sores or wounds on your toes, feet, or legs that heal slowly or not at all
• A leg or foot that feels colder than the other
“The more symptoms that you are experiencing, the higher your risk of PAD,” Melton said. “Severe peripheral arterial disease can lead to open wounds on your feet that are not healing. This raises the risk for permanent tissue damage and leg amputation or foot amputation.”
Melton has pioneered a minimally invasive procedure to restore blood flow to lower extremities, preventing amputation in most cases. He hosts two or three training courses each quarter to demonstrate the benefits of this procedure to other physicians.
The procedure uses ultrasound to guide a needle and small catheter into one of the arteries at the ankle. Once the catheter has been placed, Melton is able to utilize the latest technology and medical devices to treat the buildup of plaque in the artery.
This includes various cleaning tools which reduce the size of the plaque.
After reducing the calcium inside the artery, balloons are used to further expand the artery. If needed, a stent can be placed after expansion of the artery. This procedure is done in an outpatient setting, with a success rate around 96%.
“The procedure results in a lower risk for bleeding complications, a higher success rate in the ability to cross a blockage in order to re-established blood flow,” Melton said. “It also significantly reduces radiation and decreases the amount of contrast to the patient.”
After the 90-minute procedure, patients are sitting up, eating and drinking, and visiting with family within 15 minutes. They recover in the facility for about two hours afterward. The recovery at home is about two to three days with mild tenderness at the procedure site.
Melton said many people mistake the symptoms of PAD for something else, and it often goes undiagnosed.
He offered this questionnaire to assess your PAD risk. The more questions to which you answer yes, the higher your PAD risk.
Are you 50 years old or older?
Do you smoke or did you smoke?
Have you been diagnosed with any of the following?
• Diabetes
• Heart attack or heart disease
• Chronic kidney disease
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
Do you experience any of the following?
• Tiredness, heaviness or cramping in the leg muscles
• Toes or feet look pale, discolored or blue
• Leg or foot pain that disturbs your sleep
• Sores or wounds on your toes, feet or legs that heal slowly or not at all
• A leg or foot that feels colder than the other
Melton said he understands some patients may be reluctant to schedule clinical procedures at a time when there are worries about COVID-19. However, he said patients should not ignore symptoms during this pandemic and stressed that his facility is an intimate, outpatient facility with very low infection risk.
For more information about the CardioVascular Health Clinic and its services, go to https://cvhealthclinic.com or call 405-369-5443.
This article is sponsored by the CardioVascular Health Clinic.
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