Overview
While you are deep asleep and pain-free, an incision is made in the neck, over the blocked carotid artery. A tube is inserted above and below the blockage to re-direct the blood flow. Fat and cholesterol build-ups are removed from the carotid artery. The artery is stitched (sutured) closed, the tube is removed, and the incision is closed.
Review Date 6/16/2020
Updated by: Deepak Sudheendra, MD, RPVI, FSIR, Director of DVT & Complex Venous Disease Program, Assistant Professor of Interventional Radiology & Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, with an expertise in Vascular Interventional Radiology & Surgical Critical Care, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.