The Department of Vascular Surgery of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) started operating on October 27, 1999 as part of the 2nd phase of development of the institute as a 400-bed hospital. However, it was December 07, 2010 when it began its journey as an independent department of NICVD with Dr S A Nurul Alam as the head. The department of vascular surgery of NICVD offers treatment for the diseases of blood vessels. It is the largest dedicated vascular center of the country and one of the two tertiary referral centers in the country for complex vascular illnesses. Currently, it is the only vascular unit in the public domain that provides emergency vascular care 24 hours a day. Despite limited resources, the department has continued to handle most of the vascular burden of the country. In order to do so in the best possible way; it endeavors to keep itself abreast with the recent developments in the field of vascular surgery.
a.?? ?The department of vascular surgery of NICVD offers both surgical, endovascular and non-surgical treatments of essentially all types of diseases of the blood vessels. These include arterial diseases such as occlusions of the peripheral arteries (Blocks) particularly those of the extremities and arterial aneurysms, and venous diseases such as varicose vein, deep venous thrombosis, chronic venous insufficiency, arterio-venous fistula etc. Tumors of the blood vessels and various types of arterio-venous malformations are also treated.
Vascular injuries resulting from road traffic accident and other forms of trauma and sudden arterial occlusions due to thrombo-embolism are treated on an emergency basis. Vascular diagnostic procedures such Duplex ultrasound and angiogram to detect and evaluate vascular diseases are also carried out.
b.?? ?Patients can consult doctors at the vascular out-patient department purchasing an out-door ticket at the cost of only Tk. 10. Further expenses depend on the diagnostic work-up a patient requires. The government charge for Duplex ultrasound is Tk. 600 while that for peripheral angiogram is Tk. 500. Surgery is carried out free of cost. Sometimes the patients may be required to buy medicines and surgical materials which are not in supply.
c.?? ?Charges for any diagnostic test or procedure may be waived for extremely poor and honored patients. This, however, requires approval from the concerned authority.
d.?? ?Emergency vascular care is provided 24 hours a day.
e.?? ?Over the last one year (July 2010-June 2011), a total of 2434 patients attended the vascular outpatient department. Over the same period, 251 routine and 1145 emergency vascular operations were done. Additionally, a total of 1024 vascular Duplex study and 105 angiographic procedures were carried out.
Professor and Head of the Department
MBBS, PhD