Open repair of aortic aneurysms

Mr Gibbs - Vascular Consultant at Imperial College - talks about choices regarding options of treatment of aortic aneurysm repair.

Mr Gibbs explains some of the complications after aneurysm repair by both EVAR (keyhole repair) or open surgical repair. This can be a very important factor for many patients to consider before deciding which operation to choose. The most common post-operative complications for EVAR are usually small. The risk of significant complications for open repair is much higher than EVAR, which can include major bleeding, lack of blood flow to the legs or guts. But in the longer term, EVAR tends to have more complications as they are less durable.

Mr Gibbs - Vascular Consultant at Imperial College - explains minimally invasive treatment of AAA.

Mr Gibbs explains that an endoleak is the finding of blood flowing into the aneurysm around a stent graft (medical device) after it has been inserted in endovascular (keyhole) repair. This is one of the important complications to be aware of and can be found on scans during follow up. There are different types of endoleaks, some of which can lead to high pressure blood flow into the aneurysm, and these need procedures to prevent rupture (bursting).

Mr Gibbs discusses with Mr Jaffer that patients who have open repair usually require less follow up and may only need one or two follow up appointments with a scan to make sure there are no issues with the repair. But for endovascular (keyhole) repair, more regular follow up is needed, at least every year, because it tends to be less durable and can lead to complications, and these may require further procedures.