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What is an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?
abdominal aortic aneurysmaorta
Mr colin bicknell
Mr colin bicknell

What is an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?

Mr Bicknell explains that an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a swelling of the aorta, which is the main blood vessel that comes out of the heart. This swelling can increase over time, increasing the chance of a rupture (burst).

Transcript (auto-generated)

This transcript was generated automatically and may contain errors.

So abdominal aortic aneurysms are aneurysms of the aorta, the main blood vessel that comes out of the heart and carries the blood to all of the different organs and the aneurysmal part is a swelling of the artery or part of the artery and it's defined as being more than one and a half times its normal size so we really mean in the abdominal aorta more than three centimetres in size and this ballooning of the aorta can then increase in size over time. The walls become weak and the risk is that it ruptures quite suddenly leading to catastrophic internal bleeding.

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Mr colin bicknell
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Endovascular repair (EVAR) for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Mr Bicknell explains that endovascular repair (keyhole surgery) is one of the main treatment options for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). It involves a medical device called a stent graft. A small cut is made into the groin, and the stent graft is then fed up under X-ray guidance into the aorta. The main advantage over open repair is that there is less trauma, less complications shortly after the operation, and patients can usually go home within a day or two. But, in the long term, there can be leakage around the stent graft into the aneurysm (endoleak), which means there is a higher chance of having further procedures. This also means that you will need more regular follow up.

Endovascular repair (EVAR) for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
Mr colin bicknell
Mr colin bicknell

Open repair for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms

Mr Bicknell explains that open surgery is one of the main treatment options for abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). He explains the steps of the procedure, which involves a large cut in the abdomen. When the aorta is exposed, it is clamped above and below the aneurysm. The aneurysm is then opened up and a fabric tube is sown in. It is a major operation which requires a short stay in high dependency or intensive care unit, around 7-10 days in hospital, and a few weeks or months to recover. The short-term complications are higher than the endovascular (keyhole approach). But the main advantage is that the repair is usually more long lasting.

Open repair for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms