If the pain is very severe or gangrene threatens, an operation may be
necessary to increase blood flow. Before undergoing surgery you will need
a complete assessment of your heart and circulation. An ultrasound
examination may be used first, perhaps in the out-patient department, but if
surgery is contemplated it is necessary to take X-ray pictures of the arteries
(arteriogram). For this, a small tube is introduced into the artery in the
groin, under a local anaesthetic, and radio-opaque fluid introduced. If an
operation is required, a bypass can be performed with Dacron, fibre or
plastic materials or even the patient’s own vein. Blood then passes through
one of these artificial tubes to bypass the blocked artery and the flow of
blood to the leg is increased.
Sometimes, it is possible to use a small tube, with a balloon attached,
to widen the artery (angioplasty). The tube is inserted in the same way as it
is for an arteriogram.