ABOUT THE SINGHEALTH DUKE-NUS VASCULAR CENTRE

Established in February 2021, the SingHealth Duke-NUS Vascular Centre (SDVC) brings together multidisciplinary expertise across SingHealth institutions to provide integrated vascular care.

Its clinical services are available at:

• Singapore General Hospital (SGH)
• KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH)
• Changi General Hospital (CGH)
• Sengkang General Hospital (SKH)
• National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS)

A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM

The SDVC’s multidisciplinary team comprises specialists from the following specialties:

• Vascular Surgery
• Interventional Radiology
• Interventional Nephrology
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Dermatology (Vascular Anomalies)
• Plastic Surgery
• Podiatry
• Wound Nursing

SURGICAL INNOVATION

The Centre continues to advance complex aortic aneurysm treatment, utilising custom-made devices to treat the entire aorta, from chest to pelvis. This represents significant progress from traditional approaches where stent grafts were limited to below the renal arteries in the abdomen.

SDVC has also successfully implemented endovascular arteriovenous fistula creation, an innovative technique for dialysis access. This minimally invasive approach provides an alternative to conventional surgical methods for patients with chronic kidney disease who require vascular access for haemodialysis – offering potential benefits such as reduced procedural trauma and faster recovery times.

OUR SERVICES

Vascular surgery

• Aortic surgery: open and minimally invasive (endovascular aneurysm repair [EVAR] / thoracic endovascular aortic repair [TEVAR])
• Carotid surgery
• Lower extremity revascularisation, including angioplasty and stenting 
• Venous surgery
• Arteriovenous fistula creation and maintenance
• Miscellaneous arterial and venous surgert

Vascular and interventional radiology

• Angiography
• Angioplasty (balloon and stent)
• Aortic aneurysmal repair (stent grafts)
• Arteriovenous fistula intervention, including angioplasty, thrombolysis, and embolisation
• Vascular malformation embolisation
• Central venous access devices
• Inferior vena cava filters, thrombolysis of deep venous thrombosis
• Ablation of varicose veins
• Trauma embolisation

Interventional nephrology

• Renal biopsy
• Placement of tunneled and non-tunneled haemodialysis catheters
• Dialysis access interventions, including angioplasty and thrombolysis
• Ultrasound-guided cannulation and marking of dialysis access

Cardiothoracic surgery

• Aortic surgery: open and minimally invasive (EVAR/TEVAR)
• Aortic root reconstruction
• Aortic arch branch vessel reconstruction

Vascular anomalies

• Vascular tumours (e.g., infantile haemangiomas, kaposiform haemangioendothelioma)
• Vascular malformations (e.g., venous, lymphatic and arteriovenous malformations)
• Vascular anomalies syndromes (e.g., pik3ca-related overgrowth syndrome)

RESEARCH AND BENCHMARKING

The Centre continues to strengthen research collaboration across SGH, CGH and SKH, with a focus on lower extremity revascularisation outcomes. The SDVC institutions are studying the effectiveness of endovascular treatments such as balloon angioplasty and stenting procedures.

As part of the Centre’s quality improvement efforts across SingHealth, CGH and SKH are in the process of onboarding to join SGH in the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI),  a collaborative network of over 800 medical centres in North America. This participation will enable all three institutions to benchmark their vascular care outcomes against international standards.

In response to Singapore’s high rates of diabetic foot complications, SDVC is developing a comprehensive amputation database. This initiative aims to analyse patterns, identify risk factors and develop targeted interventions to enhance diabetes care protocols and potentially reduce amputation rates.

GPs can call the SingHealth Duke-NUS Vascular Centre for appointments at the following hotlines: