surgery
Surgery ''cheirourgikē'' (composed of χείρ, "hand", and ἔργον, "work"), via la, chirurgiae, meaning "hand work". is a medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a person to investigate or treat a pa ...
, a percutaneous procedurei.e. Granger et al., 2012 is any medical procedure or method where access to inner organs or other tissue is done via needle-puncture of the skin, rather than by using an "open" approach where inner organs or tissue are exposed (typically with the use of a scalpel).
The percutaneous approach is commonly used in
vascular
The blood vessels are the components of the circulatory system that transport blood throughout the human body. These vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to the tissues of the body. They also take waste and carbon dioxide away f ...
procedures such as
angioplasty
Angioplasty, is also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atheroscle ...
and
stent
In medicine, a stent is a metal or plastic tube inserted into the lumen of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open, and stenting is the placement of a stent. A wide variety of stents are used for different purposes, from expandab ...
ing. This involves a needle
catheter
In medicine, a catheter (/ˈkæθətər/) is a thin tubing (material), tube made from medical grade materials serving a broad range of functions. Catheters are medical devices that can be inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgi ...
getting access to a blood vessel, followed by the introduction of a wire through the lumen (pathway) of the needle. It is over this wire that other catheters can be placed into the blood vessel. This technique is known as the modified
Seldinger technique
The Seldinger technique, also known as Seldinger wire technique, is a medical procedure to obtain safe access to blood vessels and other hollow organs. It is named after Sven Ivar Seldinger (1921–1998), a Swedish radiologist who introduced ...
.
More generally, "percutaneous", via its Latin roots means, 'by way of the skin'. An example would be percutaneous drug absorption from
topical
A topical medication is a medication that is applied to a particular place on or in the body. Most often topical medication means application to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous membranes to treat ailments via a large range of classes ...
medications. More often, percutaneous is typically used in reference to placement of medical devices using a needle stick approach.
In general, percutaneous refers to the access modality of a medical procedure, whereby a medical device is introduced into a patient's blood vessel via a needle stick. This is commonly known as the
Seldinger technique
The Seldinger technique, also known as Seldinger wire technique, is a medical procedure to obtain safe access to blood vessels and other hollow organs. It is named after Sven Ivar Seldinger (1921–1998), a Swedish radiologist who introduced ...
named after
Sven Ivar Seldinger
Sven Ivar Seldinger (19 April 1921 – 21 February 1998), was a radiologist from Mora Municipality, Sweden. In 1953, he introduced the Seldinger technique to obtain safe access to blood vessels and other hollow organs.
Biography
Sven Ivar Selding ...
. The technique involves placing a needle through the skin and into a blood vessel, such as an artery or vein, until bleedback is achieved. This is followed by introduction of a flexible "introducer guide wire" to define the pathway through the skin and into the passageway or "lumen" of the blood vessel. The needle is then exchanged for an "
introducer sheath
The Seldinger technique, also known as Seldinger wire technique, is a medical procedure to obtain safe access to blood vessels and other hollow organs. It is named after Sven Ivar Seldinger (1921–1998), a Swedish radiologist who introduced the ...
" which is a small tube that is advanced over the introducer guide wire and into the blood vessel. The introducer guide wire is removed, and exchanged for a catheter or other medical device to be used to deliver medication or implantation of a medical implant such as a filter or a stent into the blood vessel.
The benefit of a percutaneous access is in the ease of introducing devices into the patient without the use of large cut downs, which can be painful and in some cases can bleed out or become infected. A percutaneous access requires only a very small hole through the skin, which seals easily, and heals very quickly compared to a surgical cut down.
Percutaneous access and procedures frequently refer to catheter procedures such as percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) ballooning, stent delivery, filter delivery, cardiac ablation, and peripheral or neurovascular catheter procedures but also refers to a device that is implanted in the body, such as a heart pump (LVAD), and receives power through a lead that passes through the skin to a battery pack outside the body.
See also
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Interventional radiology
Interventional radiology (IR) is a medical specialty that performs various minimally-invasive procedures using medical imaging guidance, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasound. IR performs b ...
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Angioplasty
Angioplasty, is also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atheroscle ...
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Laparoscopic surgery
Laparoscopy () is an operation performed in the abdomen or pelvis using small incisions (usually 0.5–1.5 cm) with the aid of a camera. The laparoscope aids diagnosis or therapeutic interventions with a few small cuts in the abdomen.Medli ...
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Arthroscopic surgery
Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the ...