Thromboembolic complications during endovascular aneurysm repair

Thromboembolic complications are relatively uncommon after conventional aneurysm surgery but have been reported in many early series of endovascular aneurysm repair. This article reviews the clinical evidence for embolization during endoluminal procedures and presents an ultrasound-based method to detect lower limb embolization during aneurysm repair. The results of a comparative clinical trial are presented that demonstrated a higher incidence of particulate embolization during endovascular as compared with conventional aneurysm surgery. The implications of this finding for clinical practice are discussed.