How to Prepare for an Appointment With a Vascular Surgeon

What should I wear to an appointment with a vascular surgeon?

Comfortable, casual clothing is appropriate for an appointment with a vascular surgeon. If leg symptoms or problems are involved be prepared to remove shoes, socks, and pants to allow an adequate examination.

Usually some sort of gown or exam shorts will be available in the examination room.

What should I bring with me for an appointment with a vascular surgeon?

It is important to be prepared for an appointment with a vascular surgeon. A good history, complete background information and testing, and any previous procedure history will greatly assist your vascular surgeon in being able to best evaluate and plan treatment for any vascular disease problem. Be prepared to carefully describe any symptoms that you believe may be referable to vascular disease.

  • Tell the vascular surgeon how long symptoms have been present, when and where they occur, and how severe they seem.
  • Take a list of medications and existing diseases under treatment.
  • Take recent blood test results.
  • Take reports from tests that have been performed. This might include reports of Doppler or ultrasound studies, CT scans, angiograms, or MRI examinations. In the case of CT scans, MRI examinations, or angiograms, actual films are most helpful and may be obtained at the facility where the examination was performed, usually on a CD copy. Having the actual films of these examinations greatly simplifies the work necessary for the vascular surgeon so the maximum information will be available at the time of your appointment.
  • Take the dates and records of any previous vascular surgery, angioplasty, or stenting, These are helpful in the evaluation of issues that are frequently quite complex. Having a record of these procedures done in the past can be extremely helpful and may avoid unnecessary repetitive testing.

Your vascular surgeon will do a physical examination to help with further assessment. They may order non-invasive vascular laboratory examinations which use ultrasound to evaluate blockage in the arteries or veins.