In 2008, the Waterloo Wellington Local Health Integration Network endorsed a plan that would see Guelph General Hospital be the lead hospital for regional vascular surgery services. This is exciting news for our Hospital. Vascular surgery refers to surgeries performed on blood vessels. The blood vessels can be arteries or veins, and can be located anywhere in the body. Vascular surgery can be performed to open up diseased arteries or to bypass diseased arteries with new blood vessels.

One component of that service will be endovascular surgery, which is surgery done from within a blood vessel. It is a relatively new, less-invasive procedure for treating the two major problems that can develop in blood vessels: ballooning out (aneurysm) or narrowing. For years, the problems were repaired by exposing the vessel through an incision, and replacing the affected portion of the vessel with a synthetic graft sewn into healthy ends of the vessel. The surgery required general anesthesia.

Endovascular surgery uses an easily accessible smaller artery to reach the problem and does not require general anesthesia. During most endovascular procedures, a long plastic tube called a catheter is placed into the femoral artery in the groin. Using real-time imaging from a fluoroscope, a physician advances the catheter to the aneurysm or narrowing and fixes the problem.

The advantages of endovascular surgery include:

• Shorter recovery periods
• Shorter hospital stays
• Less discomfort
• Local or regional anesthesia instead of general anesthesia
• Reduced need for blood products
• Less invasive, making it safer
• Smaller incision
• Less stress on the heart

We have the expertise required for endovascular surgery, as two of our surgeons have completed mini-fellowships in Belgium, and we have recruited another vascular surgeon. What we need is the technology.

Becoming a regional vascular service will require purchasing a radiographic fluoroscope, which is used to generate the sophisticated, real-time images needed for endovascular surgery. As this technology advances, physicians can perform increasingly sophisticated minimally invasive surgical procedures. Recently introduced into fixed systems is 3D technology, which reconstructs a 3D image of the patient's vascular anatomy.

The MRI & More campaign will provide $1.6 million for this project.