Stroke treatment with endovascular coiling

Coiling is an endovascular (intravascular) technique to treat and prevent stroke recurrence. It is used when doctors detect a brain aneurysm (irregular vascular formation) that can cause a stroke or has already been partially bleeding. Before starting the procedure, the patient is given general anesthesia to avoid head movements. The first step is to puncture the femoral artery. Then, a catheter insertion guide is inserted into the puncture. The next step involves inserting a catheter through the guide and placing it under X-ray control into the carotid artery, eventually reaching the brain vessel with an aneurysm. At its neck, the wire is released by the blood flow and spontaneously coagulates into a coil, filling the aneurysmal sac until it is completely closed and turned off from the bloodstream. With large aneurysm sizes, there may be several spirals. After the operation, all instruments are removed, and the inguinal artery is closed. Then, the patient wakes up in the intensive care unit and stays there for observation, usually for one night. After surgery, without a blood supply, the brain aneurysm ceases to be active, no longer poses a risk of rupture, gradually overgrows with connective tissue, and decreases in size until complete drying. Therefore, such a procedure can be a good option for stroke prevention.