Surgery Insight: advances in endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms

Despite improvements in diagnostic and therapeutic methods and an increased awareness of their clinical significance, abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) continue to be a major source of morbidity and mortality. Endovascular repair of AAAs, initially described in 1990, offers a less-invasive alternative to conventional open repair. The technology and devices used for endovascular repair of AAAs have progressed rapidly and the approach has proven to be safe and effective in short to midterm investigations. Furthermore, several large trials have demonstrated that elective endovascular repair is associated with lower perioperative morbidity and mortality than open repair. The long-term benefits of endovascular repair relative to open repair, however, continue to be studied. In addition to elective repair, the use of endovascular repair for ruptured AAAs has been increasing, and has been shown to be associated with reduced perioperative morbidity and mortality. Advances in endovascular repair of AAAs, including the development of branched and fenestrated grafts and the use of implantable devices to measure aneurysm-sac pressures following stent-graft deployment, have further broadened the application of the technique and have enhanced postoperative monitoring. Despite these advances, endovascular repair of AAAs remains a relatively novel technique, and further long-term data need to be collected.