Getting smart about your healthcare

At AccessClosure, we applaud your initiative for wanting to stay informed about your health. We are committed to providing you the information that you need about vascular closure devices used in endovascular procedures.

 

If you are reading this, you or a loved one may have been recently diagnosed with or suspected to have vascular disease. Or, perhaps a loved one has undergone a procedure to diagnose or repair a blockage in their heart or legs. We realize that this can be scary, but it doesn’t have to be. Let us explain some of the details.*

 

Here’s the skinny on vascular disease

Vascular disease is a medical term given to the narrowing of blood vessels (arteries and veins), which carry oxygenated blood throughout your body. This type of disease occurs mostly in the heart, neck, and legs and if not caught or treated early, can cause serious health problems.

 

Regardless of where the narrowing occurs, diagnosis is crucial. To do so, the doctor makes a small puncture in either the femoral artery, near your groin area, or in the radial artery, near your wrist. A small hollow tube, called a sheath, is placed through the puncture site to allow your doctor access to your arteries, to visualize and, if necessary, treat the diseased vessel.

 

At the end of the procedure, the sheath is removed and a small hole, called an arteriotomy, remains in your artery. Similar to a cut in the skin, it is important to close this hole to prevent bleeding. There are several methods and products designed to close the hole, including manual pressure, sandbags, c-clamps, and a group of products called vascular closure devices.

 

Uncomfortable manual pressure

Until the early 1990’s, the standard method for closing the femoral artery at the groin after an interventional procedure was by applying manual pressure on the groin until the bleeding stopped. This process, which is still used by physicians, can be uncomfortable for patients and requires a nurse or other clinician to apply manual pressure to the area for 15-30 minutes. Manual pressure is often followed by placement of a compression bandage on the groin while the patient lies flat on their back for 6-8 hours and many patients describe this as the most uncomfortable part of the procedure.

 

Vascular closure doesn’t have to be a pain

Now, there are other, more comfortable options available. Vascular closure devices are products that were designed to close the access site faster and help patient comfort by allowing the patient to get out of bed and be discharged from the hospital sooner than with traditional manual pressure.  There are a variety of different devices available for femoral (near your groin) and radial (near your wrist) artery closure, and since 2002, AccessClosure has been revolutionizing closure options for patients. Learn more about our vascular closure devices for femoral and radial closure:

 

The Mynx Family of Vascular Closure Devices

 

* This information is for general education only and is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by a healthcare professional. AccessClosure does not practice medicine or provide medical services or advice and the information on this web site should not be considered medical advice. You should always talk to your health care professional for diagnosis and treatment.