Washington, DC: The FDA has issued a warning regarding Baxter International Inc.’s Vascu-Guard Peripheral Vascular Patch (also referred to as the Vascu-Guard patch). The agency has recently received multiple adverse event reports associated with carotid endarterectomy (CEA) surgery.
These reports from 2016, include intraoperative or postoperative bleeding and hematomas, some of which required additional clinical intervention, and three patient deaths potentially related to this issue that occurred shortly after CEA surgery.
The device manufacturer, Baxter International, Inc., alerted the FDA to these adverse events.
The FDA is concerned that the Vascu-Guard patch may not be performing as intended and that patients who are treated with the product may be at risk for serious adverse health consequences, such as severe bleeding, hematomas, and death. After CEA surgery in particular, arterial bleeding in the neck could rapidly lead to airway obstruction, hypoxia, diminished brain perfusion, stroke and/or cardiac arrest.
The Vascu-Guard patch is intended for use in peripheral vascular reconstruction including carotid, renal, iliac, femoral, profunda, and tibial blood vessels and arteriovenous access revisions.
