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Vascular Nurse Specialist Clinic

Checked: 23-03-2019 by Rob Adams Next Review: 23-12-2019

Overview

Patient’s with the following conditions should be referred to Vascular Specialist Nurse Clinic:

• Incidental asymptomatic AAA < 5.5 cm (assessment, CV risk reduction & surveillance)
• Intermittent claudication (confirmation of diagnosis, CV risk reduction & discussion of conservative management, supervised exercise or referral angioplasty or bypass)
• Non-healing venous ulcers
• Varicose veins* - requires Prior Approval - see Varicose Veins Surgery Policy
• Axillary hyperhidrosis* - requires Exceptional Funding - see Hyperhidrosis Treatment Policy

Procedures Performed

ABPI – this can be booked via ICE at NBT, UHB & RUH or direct to the Vascular Studies Department at NBT for ABPI and treadmill testing.
Arterial and Venous Duplex ultrasound – this can be booked direct on ICE at NBT, UHB & RUH.
MR Angiogram
CT Angiogram
Supervised exercise for claudication – class run at BRI but referrals should be made via the CNS clinic (eRS)

Referral

Referrals for vascular studies

Referrals can be made directly or via ICE for ABPI or arterial or venous duplex ultrasound (see section above).

Referrals to Vascular nurse specialist - All vascular surgery referrals should now be sent via eRS to the Vascular Surgery Triage service. Clinics are held in Southmead, BRI, WGH & Bath RUH. Referrals will be triaged on a daily basis by the vascular team and booked into appropriate clinics. Please include all relevant clinical and contact details in referrals to help facilitate the triage process.

Prior to referral please supply the following test results:

FBC, U&E (including eGFR), Glucose, Fasting Lipids (TC,LDL-C,HDL-C,TGs), HbA1c (diabetics).
For peripheral arterial disease – ABPIs.
For abdominal aortic aneurysm – USS aorta (measure inner to inner diameter)

Resources

Please see the local Vascular Directory of Services

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