Site Map

Endovascular embolization

Treatment - endovascular embolism; Coil embolization; Cerebral aneurysm - endovascular; Coiling - endovascular; Saccular aneurysm - endovascular; Berry aneurysm - endovascular repair; Fusiform aneurysm repair - endovascular; Aneurysm repair - endovascular

Endovascular embolization is a procedure to treat abnormal blood vessels in the brain and other parts of the body. It is an alternative to open surgery.

This procedure cuts off the blood supply to a certain part of the body.

I Would Like to Learn About:

Description

You may have general anesthesia (asleep and pain-free) and a breathing tube. Or, you may be given medicine to relax you, but you will not be asleep.

A small surgical cut will be made in the groin area or wrist. The doctor will use a needle to create a hole in the femoral artery, a large blood vessel in the groin. It may also be done through the radial artery in the wrist

This procedure can take several hours.

Why the Procedure Is Performed

The procedure is most often used to treat aneurysms in the brain. It can also be used for other medical conditions when open surgery might be risky. The goal of the treatment is to prevent bleeding in the problem area and to reduce the risk that the blood vessel feeding it will break open (rupture).

Your doctor will help you decide whether it is safer to have surgery to block off the aneurysm before it can rupture.

This procedure may be used to treat:

Risks

Risks from the procedure may include:

Before the Procedure

This procedure is often done on an emergency basis. If it is not an emergency:

After the Procedure

If there was no bleeding before the procedure, you may need to stay in the hospital for 1 to 2 days.

If bleeding occurred, your hospital stay will be longer.

Outlook (Prognosis)

How fast you recover depends on your overall health, the severity of your medical condition, and other factors.

In most cases, endovascular embolization is a successful procedure with good outcomes.

The outlook also depends on any brain damage that occurred from bleeding before, during, or after the surgery.

Related Information

Aneurysm in the brain
Cerebral arteriovenous malformation

References

Bailey CR, Weiss CR. Congenital vascular malformations: endovascular management. In: Sidawy AN, Perler BA, eds. Rutherford's Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 172.

Kellner CP, Erdman JH, Meyers PM. Endovascular management of arteriovenous malformations for cure. In: Winn HR, ed. Youmans and Winn Neurological Surgery. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2023:chap 454.

Rangel-Castilla L, Shakir HJ, Siddiqui AH. Endovascular therapy for the treatment of cerebrovascular disease. In: Caplan LR, Biller J, Leary MC, et al, eds. Primer on Cerebrovascular Diseases. 2nd ed. Cambridge, MA: Elsevier Academic Press; 2017:chap 149.

Thanh N, Tudor J, Noguerira RG, Zaidat OO. Principles of neuroendovascular therapy. In: Jankovic J, Mazziotta JC, Pomeroy SL, Newman NJ, eds. Bradley and Daroff's Neurology in Clinical Practice. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 54.

BACK TO TOP

Review Date: 1/18/2023  

Reviewed By: Deepak Sudheendra, MD, MHCI, RPVI, FSIR, Founder and CEO, 360 Vascular Institute, with an expertise in Vascular Interventional Radiology & Surgical Critical Care, Columbus, OH. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

ADAM Quality Logo
Health Content Provider
06/01/2025

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, for Health Content Provider (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is an independent audit to verify that A.D.A.M. follows rigorous standards of quality and accountability. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial policy, editorial process and privacy policy. A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics. This site complied with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information from 1995 to 2022, after which HON (Health On the Net, a not-for-profit organization that promoted transparent and reliable health information online) was discontinued.

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997- 2024 A.D.A.M., a business unit of Ebix, Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.

A.D.A.M. content is best viewed in IE9 or above, Firefox and Google Chrome browser.