Endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm

Abstract

Abstract Background Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm has become widely used. Supporters claim high success rates, few complications and a dramatically reduced hospital stay. However, endoleak, endotension and reports of endoprosthesis rupture are causes of concern. Methods A Medline search was undertaken to identify articles on endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm. Additional papers were identified by manual scanning of the references from key articles. Results and conclusion Endoleak is a potentially serious complication of the endovascular technique and occurs in a significant proportion of patients. It is still not possible to judge whether the presence of an endoleak alone signifies failure of treatment, and the long-term durability of prosthetic covered stents is unknown. However, endovascular repair does appear to confer a degree of protection from rupture although patients must be advised of the need for life-long imaging surveillance and, perhaps, further intervention.