Endarterectomy is a surgical procedure to remove the atheromatous plaque material, or blockage, in the lining of an artery constricted by the buildup of deposits.

It was first performed on a subsartorial artery in 1946 by a Portuguese surgeon, João Cid dos Santos, at the University of Lisbon.

The first successful reconstruction of the carotid artery was performed by Carrea, Molins, and Murphy in Argentina, later in the same year.

Livesay[3] in Texas and Nair[4] in Leeds have published the largest series in the world.

A femoral endarterectomy is also frequently used as a supplement to a vein bypass graft at the sites of surgical anastomosis.