Interventional and Vascular Surgery

The Department of Interventional and Vascular Surgery at the Tenth Affiliated Hospital of Southern Medical University (Dongguan People's Hospital) grew out of the Interventional Department established in 2002. With the expansion of its services and the continuous improvement of its development, it was renamed “Interventional and Vascular Surgery” in 2022, and now has an independent vascular intervention ward, an intensive care unit, interventional operating rooms and a vascular intervention outpatient clinic. The department has 46 open beds, admits more than 1,000 patients per year and performs more than 2,500 procedures annually. The various interventional and vascular surgical procedures carried out by the department have reached advanced domestic and international standards; in terms of both scale and surgical standards it has entered the front ranks of hospitals of the same level nationwide, and in the treatment of tumours and peripheral vascular lesions in particular it holds an advanced position within the province.

The department has 37 medical and nursing professionals in total, including 15 physicians: 1 with a full senior professional title, 4 with associate senior professional titles, 2 with doctoral degrees and 11 with master’s degrees. There are 22 nursing staff, including 1 Associate Chief Nurse, 8 “zhuguan hushi” nurses and 8 specialist nurses.

The department’s medical team focuses on minimally invasive endovascular interventional treatment and open surgery, is committed to promoting standardised diagnosis and treatment and to conducting multidisciplinary collaboration, and provides comprehensive and precise diagnosis together with scientific and safe treatment plans. It was the first in Dongguan to carry out minimally invasive endovascular and open surgical treatment for many vascular surgical diseases, filling multiple gaps in vascular disease diagnosis and treatment technology.

The department routinely performs peripheral vascular interventions, comprehensive interventions and vascular surgery items, including: - Angioplasty for arteriosclerosis obliterans (balloon dilation, stent implantation, plaque atherectomy); - Interventional treatment of venous thrombosis and pulmonary artery embolism; - Combined minimally invasive treatment of lower limb varicose veins; - Interventional treatment of benign and malignant tumours of the liver, lungs and other sites (infusion chemotherapy, chemoembolisation, ablation); - Transjugular portosystemic shunt; - Puncture biopsy of tumour masses; - Puncture and drainage of cysts and abscesses; - Biliary stent implantation; - Emergency interventional embolisation for gastrointestinal bleeding, haemoptysis, postpartum haemorrhage, pelvic fractures and bleeding from liver or spleen rupture; - Interventional treatment of uterine fibroids and adenomyosis; - Embolisation for varicocele and pelvic congestion syndrome; - Endovascular exclusion and open surgery for aortic dissection and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm; - Arterial endarterectomy; - Arterial bypass surgery.

Featured conditions treated

Abdominal aortic aneurysm refers to the localised aneurysmal dilation that forms when the abdominal aorta (the large vessel connecting the thoracic aorta with the organs below the diaphragm) undergoes atherosclerosis. The diameter of the normal adult abdominal aorta is 1.6–2.0 cm; once the abdominal aorta has dilated to more than 3 cm, a diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysm can be made. Although an abdominal aortic aneurysm is not a tumour, its dangers are considerable. The department cites studies stating that when the diameter of the aneurysm exceeds 6 cm the chance of rupture and bleeding is considerable, and once rupture occurs the fatality rate of that bleeding is close to 100%. It is for this reason that abdominal aortic aneurysm is also called a “time bomb in the abdomen”; early screening, early diagnosis and early treatment are therefore extremely important.

Superficial varicose veins of the lower limbs refers to the tortuosity and dilation of veins caused by factors such as blood stasis and weakness of the vein wall. In appearance it most often presents as twisted, earthworm-like bulging of the superficial veins, sometimes accompanied by atrophy, desquamation and pigmentation of the skin of the lower leg. The most common cause is simple superficial varicose veins of the lower limbs. The department was the first in the province to carry out endovenous ablation plus stab avulsion plus foam sclerotherapy for lower limb varicose veins, and patients can walk normally immediately after the procedure.

Lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans is caused by the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the arterial wall, producing stenosis or occlusion of the lower limb arteries and consequently limb ischaemia; it is the manifestation of systemic atherosclerotic disease in the lower limbs. Patients may develop intermittent claudication, rest pain and ischaemic ulcers. Endovascular treatment, which has the advantages of being minimally invasive, repeatable and allowing rapid recovery, has become the preferred method of revascularisation for lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans. The department has now maturely implemented a range of angioplasty techniques, including balloon dilation, drug-coated balloon dilation, stent placement, mechanical debulking and thrombolysis.

Transcatheter arterial chemoembolisation (TACE) is a commonly used minimally invasive technique for treating liver tumours; it does not require an open operation and its toxicity is lower than that of systemic chemotherapy. In brief, the procedure consists of local anaesthesia at the groin, insertion of a catheter through the femoral artery to perform hepatic arteriography, and identification of the location, size and number of the tumours together with the arteries supplying them. The catheter is then advanced into the tumour-feeding artery and chemotherapeutic agents and embolic agents are injected directly, destroying the tumour while blocking the arteries that supply it, so that the tumour becomes ischaemic, necrotic and shrunken.

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) refers to the abnormal clotting of blood within a deep vein that partially or completely blocks the vessel lumen, causing impaired venous return. It is most common in the veins of the lower limbs; mild cases present with swelling and pigmentation of the affected limb, and severe cases with ulceration and loss of working capacity, while detachment of the thrombus may even cause pulmonary embolism (PE) and sudden death. The department’s treatment options for venous thrombosis are inferior vena cava filter placement, catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT), mechanical thrombectomy (PMT) and venoplasty (balloon dilation, venous stent implantation). In some cases a “one-stop” procedure can be used (a single operation in which filter placement, thrombus aspiration and venoplasty are performed and the filter is removed during that same operation), which reduces the number of operations the patient undergoes and shortens the hospital stay.