On January 22, Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center aired footage of an actual abdominal
aortic aneurysm repair utilizing a stent graft procedure. This treatment is
expected to help the 77-year-old grandfather of 7 return home sooner than with
conventional surgery.
More about AAA repair
An aneurysm is a bulge or balloon that forms in the wall of the blood vessel.
This may be due to trauma, accumulation of fatty deposits, heredity, or other
diseases that weaken the vessel wall. When the vessel wall loses elasticity and
bulges an aneurysm forms. When it forms in any part of the aorta or main blood
vessels and extends through the abdomen it is called an abdominal aortic
aneurysm (AAA).
With all the recent advances in technology, we now have more than one way to
treat an abdominal aneurysm. Historically, conventional surgery has been the
only option to correct this problem. Today, however, St. Luke's offers another
option: endovascular stent grafting.
Stent grafting is performed under regional or general anesthesia. During this
procedure, a stent graft - a polyester tube covered by metal Web - is placed
inside the aneurysm through a catheter in the groin without surgically opening
the tissue. Using x-ray, the stent is guided through the aorta to the aneurysm.
With the stent in place, blood flows through the stent graft instead of into the
aneurysm, removing the chance of rupture. The hospital stay is about 2-4 days.
After a stent graft procedure, your physician will want to see you every few
months in the first year and then annually thereafter. Follow up will include CT
scans to monitor the graft site.
Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center has been using AAA endovascular graft stents since
1999 and over 270 have been deployed.
To find a St. Luke's Heart Care physician,
click here or call 1-888-973-2663.
St.
Lukes Heart Care 