If you’ve had a stroke or stroke symptoms and an artery is more than 50 percent blocked, surgery may help you. However, not everyone is in good health. The hazards may exceed the advantages if you’ve had a massive stroke and haven’t recovered, or if both of your carotid arteries are mostly clogged. In most cases of hemorrhagic stroke, surgery is required to reduce intracranial (within the skull) pressure produced by bleeding. Hemorrhagic stroke caused by an aneurysm or a faulty blood artery can be treated surgically to prevent further strokes.