AW • HEALTH
Emergency Procedure Saves Patient’s Leg Essentia Health Physicians Help Treat and Prevent Peripheral Vascular Disease Writer: Kim Kaiser
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Regina Coleman of rural Oakes, ND, is back on her feet after emergency treatment at Essentia Health-Fargo for a serious blood clot that threatened her left leg.
t first, her left foot tingled, like it was asleep. Then pain started in both legs, making it hard to walk. When ibuprofen didn’t help, 74-year-old Regina Coleman went to the emergency department at her local hospital in Oakes, ND. Doctors there recognized the need for emergency care, and a helicopter transported Coleman to Essentia Health-Fargo. Even though he wasn’t on call that night, Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Yassar Almanaseer answered the cell phone by his bed. He rushed to work, and when he examined Coleman around midnight, her left leg was white and cold to the touch. A major blockage in her abdomen was preventing the blood from flowing into her legs properly. “There was no pulse in both legs – no blood coming below the pelvic area,” Dr. Almanaseer remembers. “It was more severe on the left side.”
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Dr. Amanaseer consulted with Essentia Health surgeon Dr. Fady Nasrallah. They knew the situation was serious, and could even lead to amputation. “If there was no way to reestablish blood flow, she would have lost her left leg,” Dr. Nasrallah says. Dr. Almanaseer decided to perform a minimally invasive procedure to dissolve the large blood clot in her abdominal aorta. Using a thin tube called a catheter, he entered a blood vessel near Coleman’s elbow and threaded the device to the main artery in her thigh. He used the tube to deliver clot-busting medication during the night. “Dr. Almanaseer came into my room the next day and said, ‘You are a lucky lady.’ ” Coleman remembers. “I have to admit – I was lucky.” The procedure had worked, restoring the blood flow to her legs. The difference was especially dramatic on the left side. “My
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9/20/12 12:52 PM