Vice President Cheney is scheduled to have elective surgery next week to treat a problem with an artery behind his knee.
A senior aide says the operation will require a brief hospital stay.
The surgery will treat an aneurysm, a bulging spot created by a weakness in an artery's wall.
Officials say the problem was detected during a routine physical exam, and is being treated now as a precaution.
The 64-year-old vice president has a history of heart trouble, including four heart attacks.