I have witnessed this surgical procedure (also known as carotid endarterectomy - CEA) during my clinical skills rotation program and in the case presented at the time, a patient had stenosis of arteria carotis interna (internal carotid) which hindered patient's oxygen transport to the brain and therefore caused serious perfusion consequences.
Removal of atherosclerotic plaques ensued and therefore the lumen of the vessel was restored to more convenient physiological values.
MRI investigation revealed stenosis of the left carotid artery, in a immediate vicinity of arteria carotis communis fork.
The surgery was extremely delicate as many important and vulnerable structures reside in a so called " carotid triangle / trigonum caroticum" and surgeon needs to be incredibly precise and careful to avoid any damage to these structures.
For example, unwanted interaction with sinus caroticus may cause patient to go into bradycardia state.
