Chronic Venous Insufficiency and Ulceration
Excessive Sweating (Hyperhidrosis)
Surgery for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)
Open repair involves putting the patient off to sleep with a general anaesthetic and then making large (30cm) cut in the tummy to gain access to the aorta. Clamps are then placed on the aorta above and below the AAA to exclude it for the circulation. The aneurysmal section of the aorta is then replaced with a plastic tube stitched onto the normal aorta above and below. The clamps are then removed to restore the blood flow and the tummy is closed up. The patient is usually admitted to intensive care afterwards and is usually in hospital for 7-10 days. Even if the operation goes well it is usually several months before the patient feels as good as they did they day before surgery. So, open AAA repair is very big operation that, even in the best of hands, is associated with a mortality and major complication rate of at least 10%; and can be much higher. This is why vascular surgeons do not recommend AAA repair until the risk of rupture without repair is really quite high. However, if the patient comes though their operation unscathed then the risk of rupture in the future is reduced to very low levels indeed.