FEATURED COVER STORY
Vascular Institute of North Georgia
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Saving Limbs and Restoring Lives: Why a Critical Limb Center is a Necessity for Every Community
he Southeast region of the United States has a high
nationally known for teaching—physicians from all over the
density of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases,
country travel to learn new techniques, thus allowing them
leading to heart attacks, strokes, or lower extremity
to provide better patient care and better outcomes for their
“leg attacks” and amputations. This devastating outcome can
patients. VIC has been successful with a rapid triage approach,
leave patients with challenging and life-altering circumstances
focused diagnostic testing, and appropriate Interventional
that could have been easily avoided by seeking a Critical Limb
Therapy with a long view on aggressive risk factor
Ischemia (CLI) Specialist. Patients who have not managed
modification—our overall 5-year limb salvage rate is 93%. This
their medical conditions well are at high risk, and amputation
success can only be achieved with comprehensive support from
can often be the “simple solution” used by many surgeons to
primary care, podiatry, and area wound centers.
deal with the problem of gangrene. A CLI Specialist has many
“Patients that are dealing with gangrene of the foot or non-
different tools and techniques to restore the blood flow to the
healing wounds (CLI) require prompt diagnosis, easy access to
lower leg, foot, and toes—preventing the need for amputation.
care, dedicated non-invasive ultrasound testing, and surgeons
What is Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)? When blood flow
who have advanced vascular and endovascular techniques.
is blocked due to plaque build-up in the arteries, this condition
Once diagnosed with CLI, our patients are treated with
can develop and lead to many complications. PAD often goes
Interventional Care within one week to promote blood flow.
underdiagnosed, and when left untreated, can lead to painful
This is the distinct difference from the inefficient traditional
walking, weak walking, numbness, open wounds with poor
route to one that is navigated via a Critical Limb Center,” said
healing, or severe issues like stroke, heart attack, and sometimes
Dr. Chris LeSar, Vascular Surgeon and CLI Specialist.
even the loss of a limb from CLI—a lack of blood flow. The Vascular Institute of Chattanooga is the first Critical
Vascular Surgical Care has changed over time, with an ever-evolving standard of care driven by the latest technologies
Limb Center in the region, with its office-based interventional
and advances. For example, the newest testing that has
suites dedicated to Peripheral Vascular Disease Care and
advanced how we can perform an intervention is called
amputation prevention. The VIC vascular surgeons are
Pedal Acceleration Time (PAT). This is a unique non-invasive
22 // September 2021
