Arterial Maintenance & Follow-up Care - Center for Vascular Medicine

If you had a procedure with CVM

We will typically ask you to follow-up with us at about 1 week, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months post-procedure. These dates are flexible ranges and can vary slightly based on appointment and patient availability.

At your 1-week follow-up, we will review:

What was done during your procedure,
Symptoms and whether they have improved,
Intra-operative imaging,
Anti-coagulation tolerance, if any was prescribed
Complications, if any

Unless there is suspicion of complication, ultrasound is usually not done at this time.

At 6 weeks, we will continue to

Monitor your symptoms for improvement
Ensure that there are still no issues tolerating your anti-coagulation medication

Depending on how you are feeling, an ultrasound may be ordered at this time

There are some activities that you should take note of and avoid for a few days immediately following your procedure.

Diet

You may resume your normal diet following your procedure. We encourage you to drink lots of water and non-caffeinated beverages for the first two days after your procedure.

Access site dressing

You may be discharged with a dressing over the access site that can be removed the next morning. Please inspect the access site daily for the first few days and notify us of any significant changes. Bruising around the area may be present. If you notice bleeding, swelling, or an increase in bruising, apply direct pressure over the area and seek medical attention immediately.

Showering/bathing

You may take a shower within the first 24 hours following your procedure. However, we ask that you refrain from soaking in a bathtub, hot-tub, or pool until the access site is healed.

Physical activities

Please avoid any heavy lifting (e.g. anything more than 10 pounds), straining, pushing, or impact exercises (e.g. running, jogging) for the first 3 days. You may walk, climb steps, and drive if you do not experience any bruising, swelling or pain at the access site.

Medications

Outside of certain blood thinning agents, most medications can be continued immediately following your procedure. Medications such as Coumadin (Warfarin) and injectable Heparin/Lovenox are potent blood thinners that can caused delayed bleeding from the access site. We usually ask that these blood thinners be held for 1-2 days following the procedure and we will specify when to begin use of these medications. If you take aspirin, Plavix or Aggrenox, you may continue use of these mediations if there are no signs of delayed bleeding or swelling at the access site.

There are some complications that can occur post-procedure.

If any of these occur, please contact our clinical team at the number provided on your discharge instructions.

Bleeding, infection, redness, pain or swelling around the sheath insertion site

Fever (a possible sign of infection)

Unusual pain or swelling in the legs

Pain in the lower back or abdomen that is quickly increasing

Painful, cold leg or foot (with or without discoloration)

Any general symptoms of allergies (difficulty breathing, swollen eyes, check, ears, neck, etc.)

Vomiting blood or blood in the stool

Your anti-coagulation may have some side effects as well. Some common side effects include bruising more easily and bleeding for longer periods. In cases of extended or excessive bleeding, please contact your nearest emergency room.

If you have not been recommended a procedure with CVM,

We likely recommended conservative management or an evaluation of other bodily systems prior to a procedure. We would like you to continue to follow-up with us as symptoms may not improve with more conservative management or even get worse over time. Typically, you will be asked to follow-up anywhere between 3 months to 1 year later depending on your presenting symptoms.