A surgeon at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown has completed a state-of-the-art surgery.
According to a Bassett news release, Dr. Charles Drucker, a vascular surgeon, performed Bassett’s first successful implantation of the Esprit Below the Knee System from Abbott, a medical device company. The system is the first and only FDA-approved, drug-eluting resorbable scaffold for one of the most severe forms of peripheral artery disease, chronic limb-threatening ischemia, the release stated.
A patient with CLTI can experience severely blocked blood flow to legs or feet due to plaque build-up in the arteries. The condition can, in some cases, lead to amputation, heart attack, stroke or death, according to the release.
The Esprit system “addresses this condition by acting as a stent, inserted into a narrowed artery to act as a scaffold to keep it open,” the release stated. While inside the artery, the system delivers a drug into the surrounding arterial wall to prevent the growth of new tissue that can cause the artery to re-narrow. Over time, the system is fully absorbed into the artery.
“My colleagues and I are proud to bring this medical innovation to Bassett Healthcare Network,” Drucker said. “Historically, when treating vessel disease in the small vessels found in the lower legs, there have not been many durable options. Now, this revolutionary system is providing patients with better blood flow and less pain while allowing them to delay or completely avoid amputation.”