Critical Limb Ischemia Program
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare (TMH) is home to the only Critical Limb Ischemia Program in the Big Bend. Our skilled team of interventional cardiologists and vascular surgeons offer the most advanced procedures to prevent and reduce lower-limb amputations due to blood flow restriction.
What Is Critical Limb Ischemia?
Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) is an obstruction of the arteries, which reduces blood flow to extremities (most often the legs), causing severe pain, skin ulcers and sores. CLI is a severe condition of late-stage peripheral artery disease (PAD) that can lead to gangrene, amputation and even death.
If PAD is not diagnosed and treated early enough, progressive plaque can build up and cause narrowing of the leg arteries, leading to CLI. PAD and CLI need comprehensive treatment by a vascular specialist. These conditions will not improve on their own.
Services & Treatments
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare continues to bring advanced, life-changing care to patients in our area. We are proud to be the first hospital in North Florida and South Georgia to perform two new limb-saving procedures – LimFlow and DETOUR.
LimFlow System
TMH was the third hospital in the nation to successfully perform a LimFlow procedure in November of 2023 outside of clinical research and trials and is the only hospital in the region offering this innovative, life-changing surgery.
Approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2023 for patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia, the LimFlow System is a minimally-invasive option for patients who are at high risk of amputation that are not ideal candidates for other surgical options. LimFlow saves legs from major amputation, reducing the risk of mortality or major complications associated with amputations.
The LimFlow System allows vascular specialists to connect an artery in the calf to a vein near the foot to restore blood flow to the feet. Using LimFlow, our vascular specialists move arterial and venous catheters through the blood vessels next to each other. After creating an opening between the artery and the neighboring vein, the vascular specialist uses a stent to create a channel from the artery to the vein, restoring blood flow to the foot, potentially avoiding major amputation, resolving pain and promoting wound healing.
DETOUR System
With DETOUR, your doctor will make a connection between your artery and vein, which will allow them to create a bypass around the blockage by using TORUS™ Stent Grafts.
New to TMH in 2024, the DETOUR System is a major advancement for patients with narrowing or blockage of the superficial femoral and popliteal arteries. The narrowing is caused by atherosclerosis, the collection of fatty substances, such as cholesterol, that forms plaque along the lining of the arteries.
DETOUR allows our vascular specialists to perform minimally invasive endovascular femoral-popliteal bypasses and avoid traditional open leg surgery.
With DETOUR, the vascular specialist creates a bypass of the artery blockage without open incisions, so patients benefit from immediate recovery and can go home the same day as the procedure, rather than recovering in the hospital for up to four days.
The DETOUR System is used in people who have narrowing or a blockage in the superficial femoral and popliteal arteries and who are not ideal candidates for surgical repair.
Why Choose TMH?
Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare is advancing patient care by bringing the newest technologies and procedures to the Big Bend. With the region’s only Critical Limb Ischemia program, TMH offers hope and life-changing options to patients close to home. If you’re at risk of losing a limb, talk to your doctor about a referral to a Critical Limb Ischemia provider.
