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Abdominal aortic aneurysm graftOpen surgery requires a long incision on the abdomen from the bottom of the breastbone to the top of the pubic bone. A synthetic material is used as a graft, replacing the aneurysm area, and connecting the healthy areas of the aorta above and below the aneurysm. A hospital stay of at least 7 days is usually needed and recovery can take weeks. The open surgery graft can be risky for patients, particularly those with other medical conditions. It can also lead to complications affecting other arteries of the body. A less invasive and less risky procedure is a graft that is put in place by using catheters (flexible, hollow tubes). A catheter is inserted through a small incision into an artery in the groin and then navigated through the bloodstream to the aneurysm. The custom-designed graft is sent through the catheter and then "inflated" and anchored inside the aorta to the healthy tissue above and below the aneurysm. Blood then flows through the graft without putting pressure on the aneurysm. Over a period of months, the aneurysm eventually shrinks. The typical hospital stay is 1-2 days and normal activities can usually be resumed within 1-2 weeks. [ Previous page ] |
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