Docs May Be Overdoing Some Invasive Procedures
FRIDAY, Oct. 16 (HealthDay News) -- A new study calls into question the increasing use of invasive procedures as first-line treatment for patients with renal artery stenosis, a narrowing of blood vessels in and around the kidneys.
New medical technology has made renal artery stenosis easier to detect, which has led to increased use of surgical bypass or minimally invasive procedures, such as angioplasty and stenting, to treat the condition.
However, U.S. researchers analyzed data on hundreds of patients and concluded that renal artery stenosis progresses to dangerous blockage in only a small percentage of cases and doesn't always require surgery, angioplasty or stenting.
"We think these interventions are beneficial for a group of patients," study co-author Dr. Ross P. Davis, a vascular surgery fellow in the department of vascular and endovascular surgery at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., said in a news release.
"But as physicians, we need to be careful about reserving those interventions for specific indications, not just for all patients whose ultrasound reports confirm the presence of artery narrowing.
Add A New Comment
Add A New CommentComments
There are no comments yet. Be the first to get the conversation started.