An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a condition that, if untreated, can eventually lead to the need for immediate medical attention. Some aneurysms can be treated medically, others require surgery.
Types
Abdominal aortic aneurysms are treated either by controlling risk factors that could lead to rupture or surgically repairing the aneurysm. Once ruptured, surgery is the only option.
Non-invasive treatment
Your doctor will try to manage your aneurysm by controlling blood pressure, lowering your cholesterol, having you quit smoking and possibly prescribing beta blockers to reduce the blood pressure within the blood vessel.
Surgery
On aneurysms more than 5 centimeters in size, or rapidly growing aneurysms, surgery is the prescribed treatment. One technique involves opening the abdomen, finding and removing the aneurysm, and sewing a tube in its place. The other technique, endovascular surgery, involves guiding a stent graft down the blood vessel to the site of the aneurysm without cutting the abdomen open. A stent graft is a tube made of metal mesh that supports the artery.
Considerations
The endovascular technique, though less invasive, cannot fix all aneurysms and requires closer follow-up and testing. The post-operative recovery is shorter than with abdominal surgery.
Complications
There are many possible complications of abdominal aortic aneurysm. You can have an aortic dissection, in which the blood seeps out of the blood vessel, an arterial embolism , which is a blood clot, heart attack, kidney failure, stroke or hypovolemic shock, where the heart can't pump enough blood to the body.
Warning
Abdominal aortic aneurysm is a serious condition always with the potential to rupture. Once it ruptures, you will get unbearable pain in the lower abdomen and back which leads to massive blood loss, shock and, left untreated, death. Only 40 percent of people with ruptured aneurysms survive.
Tags: aortic aneurysm, blood vessel, abdominal aortic, aneurysms treated, blood pressure