Many times, due to different factors such as diseases, blood clots form in the blood vessels. A solid-mass stationary clot is known as a thrombus, whereas an embolus is a part or the whole clot that gets dislocated and starts traveling through the circulatory system.
When this blood clot – embolus travels from its original place to another place in the body, obstructing a blood vessel, embolism happens. Hence basically, an embolus is a moving thrombus. These clots can be extremely risky and even fatal.
Embolism can block blood flow. It can also result in organ or tissue damage. So when this happens, a surgeon needs to remove the clot in order to restore the normal uninterrupted blood flow.
Embolism comprises of a venous embolism which is also termed as deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and arterial embolism.
Venous embolism can pass through the lungs and can lead to dangerous pulmonary embolism (PE). It causes serious difficulty in breathing, while arterial embolism can travel to the brain and can lead to a stroke. In cases where medication is unable to dissolve the embolus, doctors remove the clot through an embolectomy. The embolectomy is a procedure that is opted for when all other treatment options are ineffective. Simply put, it is a procedure where the surgeons manually remove the emboli from where it is disrupting the blood flow.
What Are The Risks of Embolectomy?
Some of the risks of embolectomy are:
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