Personal Profile
Louis Fligelstone qualified from the Welsh National School of Medicine in 1986. He began his career in vascular surgery in 1991 as Surgical Registrar to the Vascular Unit at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff. He obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1992. There followed a 2 year period of research into increased blood clotting and peripheral arterial disease at the University Hospital of Wales and was awarded of the higher degree of Doctor of Medicine from the University of Wales.
He was appointed to the prestigious Senior Registrar training programme in North West Thames in 1995. He took full advantage of the specialist vascular training in the internationally renowned Charing Cross Vascular Unit and obtained the Intercollegiate Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons in 1997.
In 1998 he was awarded Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training and entry onto the Specialist Register of the General Medical Council.
He was appointed Consultant Surgeon to Morriston Hospital, Swansea in 1998.
As Clinical Lead and Clinical Director he was the key individual whose drive centralised vascular surgery in South West Wales. Swansea is now one of the busiest vascular units in the United Kingdom, with first class outcomes.
He examines for the Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons Vascular Surgery and Fellowship of the European Board of Vascular Surgery.
He was a founding member of the Surgical Accreditation Committee for Vascular Surgery and the first Head of School of Surgery for Wales.
He was responsible for setting up the Wales Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Programme in 2013. This programme saves lives by preventing rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm, by early detection using ultrasound scanning. He is now responsible for Quality Assurance of the surgical networks that treat men referred with an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
Clinical Interests
- Modern treatment of varicose veins recommended by the National Institute of Health Care Excellence.
- Endothermal ablation – sealing veins using heat
- Ultrasound guided foam sclerotherapy – sealing veins by injecting foam
- Open surgery – tying off and removing lumpy veins
- Microsclerotherapy – treating thread veins, spider veins using fine injections
- Thoracic outlet syndrome –causing pain, numbness, tingling of the arms and hands, clots in arm veins and damage arteries.
- Carotid artery surgery – helping patients with narrowed blood vessels in the neck prevent mini-strokes or strokes.
Professional Memberships
- Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland – www.vascularsociety.org.uk
- Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland – www.asgbi.org.uk
- Royal College of Surgeons of England – www.rcseng.ac.uk
