Management of abdominal aortic aneurysms in a small district hospital

A retrospective study of 37 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms treated at the small hospital of Bollnäs over a 16-year period is described. No surgery was performed on these cases during the first eight years. During the last eight years, six patients with ruptured aneurysms were operated on acutely and eight patients with intact aneurysms were treated by elective surgery. Peri-operative mortality was 50% in the group with ruptured aneurysms and 0% in the group with intact aneurysms. It is concluded that the facilities of a small hospital are adequate to enable trained vascular surgeons to treat abdominal aortic aneurysms successfully.