What are the methods for treating vascular malformations?

The state of blood vessels is a very important foundation for people's health, because only when blood vessels are usually unobstructed can blood flow smoothly to every corner of the body and provide a large amount of nutrients for the body's health. Once there is a problem with the blood vessels, it will lead to more serious consequences. For example, vascular malformation is a common symptom. This symptom has a great impact on people's bodies, causing poor blood circulation and inducing pathological manifestations of various tissues. The occurrence of this disease is related to people’s unhealthy living habits. Let’s take a look at the methods for treating vascular malformations.

Arteriovenous malformations are mainly treated with surgery. During surgery, the artery that communicates with the tumor should be ligated and cut off first, and then the lesion should be removed. Sometimes, due to extensive lesions, one or both external carotid arteries need to be ligated during surgery to reduce bleeding. In recent years, the development of interventional radiology has enabled the application of transcatheter arterial embolization technology to control and reduce intraoperative bleeding. Its hemostatic effect is far better than that of external carotid artery ligation because, in addition to the main trunk of the artery, all branches of the artery, up to the terminal branches, can be embolized, without the disadvantages of a sudden drop in peripheral vascular pressure and opening of the lumen, which instead forms a collateral circulation. The commonly used effective and safe embolic material is gelatin sponge.

Bleeding is very easy to occur during surgery for central vascular malformation of the jaw. In addition to preparing sufficient blood source, hypothermia and antihypertensive anesthesia can be used to control bleeding. During surgery, one or both external carotid arteries should be ligated, or the inferior alveolar artery (or maxillary artery) should be ligated first; of course, TAE technology can control intraoperative bleeding more effectively than external carotid artery ligation.

In the past, osteotomy was often used to treat central vascular malformations of the jaw, but now there is a tendency to use conservative surgery as much as possible; among them, interventional treatment has achieved initial success and should be the first choice. Secondly, after effectively controlling the bleeding, you can choose to only scrape off the bone lesions, which can preserve more bone tissue to maintain the facial appearance. Of course, osteotomy can also be used in cases where bone destruction is too severe and bleeding is difficult to completely control.

The mainstay of treatment for lymphatic malformations is surgery, particularly for those with microcystic malformations. Small lesions can be completely removed; large lesions can also be removed in stages or partially to improve function and appearance.