Who I am

Hi- I’m Tazo Inui. When people ask me what I do, I tell them I’m a vascular surgeon, but what does that mean?

My job is to improve the quality of life for my patients. Sometimes that means saving a leg so patients can walk normally. Other times it means reducing the risk of stroke with carotid surgery, fixing an aneurysm to decrease their risk of death, or treating varicose veins to improve their quality of life. Vascular surgeons know how to see and treat problems of blood vessels all over the body. We work with other surgeons, including spine, ENT, and cancer surgeons, when our experience with major reconstruction is needed.

Focusing on the patient’s perspective is the most important step in vascular surgery. There are many ways to treat a problem: changes to diet and exercise, prescribing medicine, minimally invasive procedures, and major vascular surgery are all options, and choosing the best one for the patient isn’t always simple. I am proud to offer the full range of interventional treatments and surgery for vascular disease.

Sometimes the best option to help a patient with vascular disease carries real risk; it’s important to me that my patients are fully informed of those risks, and that they feel comfortable and confident with a proposed plan.

The best way to treat vascular disease, however, is prevention. I try to make sure patients do everything possible not to need my surgical skills.

I trained at UC San Diego for general surgery residency and my vascular surgery fellowship, am double board-certified in surgery and vascular surgery, and have an additional certification in interpreting vascular imaging and tests. I have lived and worked mostly in California and Washington. I’m originally from Seattle. I studied Spanish literature in college.

When I’m not at work, I’m with my family, usually outside in the beautiful weather of Central California.