Fogarty catheter This is a very important instrument in vascular surgery used for
embolectomy.
In acute limb ischaemia, through a groin incision the femoral artery is elevated by slings, and a longitudinal or transverse arteriotomy is made, for removal of clots distal or proximal to the arteriotomy site, a Fogarty catheter is inserted until it is deemed to have passed beyond the clot, whereby the balloon tip is inflated (see figure above) and the catheter is slowly withdrawn dragging the clot with it to enable extraction of the clot via the arteriotomy, bleeding from the arteriotomy site indicates clearance of the clot from the involved vessel.
Complications include vessel perforation with hematoma formation, False aneurysm, intimal tears with arterial dissection, uncommonly the balloon tip is disconnected.
