Artery blockage removed using local anaesthesia

DUBAI - Surgical teams at Rashid Hospital at the start of the New Year successfully performed the first surgery to remove a blockage in the carotid artery under local anaesthesia, an achievement that represents a major leap in the standard of medical care offered by Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services (Dohms).

By (By a staff reporter)

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Published: Mon 5 Jan 2004, 11:58 AM

Last updated: Thu 2 Apr 2015, 2:16 AM

The carotid artery is either of the two main arteries in the neck whose branches supply the head and neck with blood. The common carotid artery rises on the left side directly from the aortic arch and on the right from the innominate artery. They ascend the neck on either side up to the Adam's apple, where they each divide into two branches, the internal carotid, supplying the cerebrum, forehead, nose, eye and middle ear, and the external carotid.

Dr Younes Qazem, Head of the Arteries and Blood Vessels Section at Rashid Hospital, said the operation was 100 per cent successful, since it involved the delicacy of such a procedure and the dangers inherent in operating on such a major blood vessel supplying the brain. Among the dangers is the risk of blood clots spreading into the brain.

Dr Qazem stressed that the procedure is designed to avoid life-threatening blockages in the carotid artery that could cause life-long disability that would reflect negatively on patient's psychological and social condition, affecting their productivity and their quality of life.

He said since the hospital started conducting such surgeries following the availability of necessary equipment, there has been a great demand from members of the public. He further explained the procedures carried out by doctors to treat patients and remove these blockages by providing a quantity of blood and supplying it to the brain, while the patient is on the operating table, in order to avoid blockages or partial paralysis.

He pointed to the efforts taken by the section and its doctors, supported by the hospital and the director general of the Dohms, Qadi Saeed Al Mroushid, to raise the standard of medical treatment by providing modern medical tools and equipment.


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