Recent and continuing growth in the Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery is bringing greater access to care to UTMB’s patients – an endeavor that new division chief Mitchell Cox, MD, is enthusiastic to lead.
Dr. Cox joined UTMB June 1 following 13 years in the Department of Surgery at Duke University Medical Center. For the previous 13 years, he served in the U.S. Air Force, with several wartime deployments. He has vast experience treating severe and unusual
cases of arterial and venous disease via minimally invasive and traditional surgical methods. With this skillset and leadership, he enhances UTMB’s opportunity to deliver outstanding comprehensive care.
“Our goal is to provide truly full-service vascular surgery - everything from varicose veins all the way to thoracoabdominal aneurysms,” he says.
The division specializes in minimally invasive, catheter-based treatments as well as traditional open surgery to address diseases of the arteries, veins, and the lymphatic system.
Along with Dr. Cox, the team currently includes six physicians, with additional faculty slated to come on board this October.
Until recently, vascular surgery services had been limited to Galveston. But with the recent growth, Dr. Cox says the division will soon be full service at Galveston and Clear Lake campuses, with many services also available at League City and Angleton
campuses.
“We are going to have an extensive cardiovascular service line at Clear Lake, and we are going to be working with the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Division of Cardiology to really increase the complexity of the cases we treat,”
Dr. Cox says, naming complicated aortic aneurysm disease, aortic dissection, and complex abdominal vascular problems as the types of cases they will approach collaboratively.
The team will help treat patients with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS), in which blood vessels or nerves between the collarbone and first rib become compressed. A thoracic outlet decompression typically involves making an incision to remove a portion of
the rib, relieving compression, as well as repair of any structural problems of the artery.
Additionally, vascular surgeons play a key role in surgeries where an anterior approach to the spinal column is important, such as in the treatments for degenerative disk disease, neural decompression, resection of neoplasms, trauma, infection, and congenital
anomalies.
Limb salvage will likely be another important part of the division’s practice, Dr. Cox says. For patients with diabetic foot infections, there are endovascular and open surgical options that reduce the potential need for amputation. Collaborating
with UTMB’s podiatrists in the Department of Orthopedics will be key to making the service as seamless as possible.
Ultimately, the expansion of services will also allow more primary care referrals to remain at UTMB – due to both the increased physician availability and the newly offered services at UTMB’s mainland locations. For patients who could not
or have not wanted to travel to Galveston for treatment, they can now visit UTMB at locations closer to home.
“My hope is that we will be able to handle all the referrals so that nothing would (have to) leave the system. Really, there is nothing in vascular surgery we can’t do, and we should have the availability to do it very soon.”
Dr. Cox adds that the division is happy to partner with primary care physicians in the care of any patients who have vascular concerns, like deep vein thrombosis, any type of aneurysm, or carotid artery disease.
“If the patient needs to be followed yearly, we are happy to do that. Or, if they want to follow the patient, they can always give us a call when the patient needs an intervention,” he says. “We are happy to be the primary managers of
these kinds of vascular problems.”