Aneurysm Coiling Procedure, Recovery Time, and Complications

Experts in Aneurysm Coiling

UPMC has one of the busiest centers in the world for aneurysm coiling, performing more than 180 procedures annually.

For certain people with brain aneurysms, this minimally invasive alternative procedure to open surgery produces better outcomes with faster recovery.

How Aneurysm Coiling Works

An aneurysm coil is a device inserted via catheter to fill in a brain aneurysm — a bulge in a blood vessel. A coil can stop a ruptured aneurysm from continuing to bleed, or prevent an unruptured aneurysm from bleeding. A coil implantation system consists of a soft platinum coil soldered to a stainless steel delivery wire.

To treat an aneurysm, UPMC neurosurgeons:

• First places a microcatheter — a long tube tipped with miniature instruments — inside the aneurysm.
• Properly positions the catheter.
• Navigates a coil through the catheter and into the aneurysm.