endovascolari

Endovascolare, or endovascular in English, describes medical procedures performed inside the vessels using percutaneous access, catheters, guidewires, and imaging. The approach aims to diagnose and treat vascular disease without open surgical exposure of the affected vessels. The term reflects a field associated with interventional radiology, vascular surgery, and interventional cardiology.

Common endovascolare procedures include angioplasty with or without stent placement to widen narrowed arteries, endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysms, and thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR). Cerebrovascular and peripheral interventions, such as carotid or peripheral stenting, mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischemic stroke, embolization of nidus or malformations, and venous interventions, are also performed endovascolare.

Practice relies on imaging guidance (fluoroscopy, CT angiography, ultrasound) and specialized devices (catheters, balloons, stents, coils, embolic agents). Procedures may be performed by interventional radiologists, vascular surgeons, and interventional cardiologists in dedicated endovascular suites.

Benefits include reduced invasiveness, shorter hospital stays, and suitability for patients at high surgical risk. Risks include access-site complications, bleeding, infection, contrast-induced nephropathy, radiation exposure, and device-related complications such as endoleaks or stent occlusion. Long-term outcomes depend on device selection, anatomy, and comorbidities.

History traces endovascolare techniques to angioplasty in the 1960s and the subsequent development of stents and dedicated endovascular platforms, with EVAR popularized in the 1990s. Today, endovascolare methods form a cornerstone of vascular medicine and surgery.