What to Expect at Home

You should be able to do most of your normal activities within 3 - 4 weeks. You may have a slight neck ache for about 2 weeks.

You may start doing everyday activities as soon as you are able. You may need help with meals, taking care of the house, and shopping at first.

Do not drive until your incision (cut) is healed, and you can turn your head without discomfort.

You may have some numbness along your jaw and near your earlobe. This is from your incision (cut). Most of the time, this goes away in 6 - 12 months.

Self-care

Do not wear turtlenecks or other clothes around your neck that rub against your cut.

• You may shower when you get home. It is okay if the tape (Steri-Strips) on your incision gets wet. Do NOT soak, scrub, or have the shower beat directly on the Steri-Strips. They will curl up and fall off on their own after about a week.
• Look carefully at your incision every day for any changes. Do not put lotion, cream, or herbal remedies on it without asking your doctor first if it is okay.

Having carotid artery surgery does not cure the cause of the blockage in your arteries. Your arteries may become narrow again. To prevent this:

• Eat a heart-healthy diet, exercise (if your doctor advises you to), stop smoking (if you smoke), and reduce your stress level. Doing these things will help lower your chances of having a blocked artery again.
• Your doctor may give you medicine to help lower your cholesterol. See also: Cholesterol - drug treatment
• If you are taking medicines for high blood pressure or diabetes, take them as your doctor has asked you to.
• Your doctor may ask you to take aspirin, a medicine called clopidogrel (Plavix), or another medicine when you go home. These medicines keep your blood from forming clots in your arteries or stent. Do not stop taking them without talking with your doctor first.

See also:

• Clopidogrel (Plavix)
• Aspirin and your heart

When to Call the Doctor

Call your doctor or nurse if:

• You have a headache, become confused, or have numbness or weakness in any part of your body.
• You have problems with your eyesight, you cannot talk normally, or you have trouble understanding what other people are saying.
• You cannot move your tongue to the side of your mouth.
• You have trouble swallowing.
• You have chest pain, dizziness, or shortness of breath that does not go away with rest.
• You are coughing up blood or yellow or green mucus.
• You have chills or a fever over 101 °F or a fever that does not go away after you take acetaminophen (Tylenol).
• Your incision becomes red or painful, or yellow or green discharge is draining from it.
• Your legs are swelling.

Alternate Names

Carotid endarterectomy - discharge; CEA - discharge; Angioplasty - carotid artery - discharge; Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty - carotid artery - discharge; PTA - carotid artery - discharge

References

2011 ASA/ACCF/AHA/AANN/AANS/ACR/ASNR/CNS/SAIP/SCAI/SIR/SNIS/SVM/SVS Guideline on the Management of Patients With Extracranial Carotid and Vertebral Artery Disease. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. published online Jan 31, 2011.

Goldstein LB. Prevention and management of stroke. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders;2007:chap 58.

Mas JL, Chatellier G, Beyssen B, Branchereau A, Moulin T, Becquemin JP, et al. Endarterectomy versus stenting in patients with symptomatic severe carotidstenosis. N Engl J Med. 2006 Oct 19;355(16):1660-71.

Eckstein HH, Ringleb P, Allenberg JR, et al. Results of the Stent-Protected Angioplasty versus Carotid Endarterectomy (SPACE) study to treat symptomatic stenoses at 2 years: a multinational, prospective, randomised trial. Lancet Neurol. 2008 Oct;7(10):893-902. Epub 2008 Sep 5.

Update Date: 3/6/2011

Updated by: David C. Dugdale, III, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of General Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine. Michael A. Chen, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical School, Seattle, Washington. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.