Eleven years of aortic aneurysm surgery: changes in techniques and results

This study presents data from aortic aneurysm surgery during the two periods 1974-1981 and 1982-1984. During the last period most elective patients were operated on under epidural analgesia. The proportion of electively operated patients increased from 44% to 65%. The blood loss decreased significantly from the early to the late period. The mortality rate decreased from 58% to 43% for acute, and from 12% to 6% for elective patients.