In this Q&A, Dr. Mohammed Osman with Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists (ACS) explains what a thrombectomy is, how it removes blood clots, and when this procedure is used in cardiology and vascular medicine.

We get asked a lot about the new technologies that we have in the vascular arena. I think many of us are very excited about thrombectomies. Thrombectomy devices have been there for a long period of time now. We use them a lot in the heart to treat patients with heart attack. A thrombectomy device (the easiest way to explain it) is like a large vacuum in which we can basically go in and suck a clot out from the affected organ. We can use that to suck clots from the coronary arteries: the arteries supplying the heart. We can use that to suck the clot from the arteries supplying the legs. Nowadays, we can use that to treat patients with pulmonary embolism: a condition in which there are clots affecting the arteries supplying the lungs. We can use these devices to find the clot and just suck it out.