The evolution of open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair at a tertiary care center

The characteristics of and indications for open abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair have evolved over time. We evaluated these trends through the experience at a tertiary care academic center.

A retrospective review was conducted for patients undergoing open AAA repair (inclusive of type IV thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms) from 2005 to 2018 at an academic institution. Trends over time were evaluated using the Spearman test; Cox regression was used to determine predictors of mortality and to generate adjusted survival curves.

There were 628 patients (71.5% male; 88.2% white) with a mean age of 70.5 ± 9.4 years who underwent open AAA repair with a mean aneurysm diameter of 6.2 ± 1.5 cm. The median length of stay was 10 days, and the median intensive care unit length of stay was 3 days. Urgent repair was undertaken in 21.1%; 22.3% were type IV thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repairs, and 9.9% were performed for explantation. Our series favored a retroperitoneal approach in the majority of cases (82.5%). The proximal clamp sites were supraceliac (46.1%), suprarenal (29.1%), and infrarenal (24.8%), with approximately a third requiring renal artery reimplantation. The average cross-clamp time was 25.5 ± 14.9 minutes; the mean renal ischemia time for supraceliac and suprarenal clamp sites was 28.4 ± 12.3 minutes and 23.5 ± 12.7 minutes, respectively. Postoperative renal dysfunction occurred in 19.6% of the overall cohort, with 6.2% requiring hemodialysis. Of those requiring postoperative hemodialysis, the majority (75%) received an urgent repair. The in-hospital mortality was 2.3% for elective cases vs 20.9% for urgent repair, and 29.8% of patients were discharged to rehabilitation, with an overall 30-day readmission rate of 7.9%. Over time, there were trends of increased aneurysm repair complexity, with decreasing infrarenal clamp sites, increasing supraceliac clamp sites, increasing proportion of explantations, and increasing need for bifurcated grafts. The acuity of aneurysm repair likewise changed, with the proportion of urgent repairs increasing over time, largely attributable to the rise in explantations. Clamp site influenced the frequency of perioperative complications. Urgent repairs and age at operation were associated with mortality, whereas mortality was not associated with need for explantation and clamp location.

Aneurysm repair reflected increasing complexity over time, with the need for explantation among urgent repairs significantly on the rise. Urgency and clamp location independently predicted long-term mortality, even after adjustment for age. These findings underscore the changing landscape of open AAA repair in the current era.