Open abdominal aortic aneurysm repair is surgery to fix a widened part (or aneurysm) in your aorta, the large artery that carries blood to your belly (abdomen), pelvis, and legs.

An aortic aneurysm is when part of this artery becomes too large or balloons outward.

Your surgeon opens up your belly and replaces the aortic aneurysm with a fabric material.

AAA - open; Repair - aortic aneurysm - open

The surgery will take place in an operating room. You will be given general anesthesia (asleep and pain free).

• In one approach, you will be lying on your back. The surgeon will make an incision (cut) in the middle of your belly, from just below the breastbone to below the navel. Sometimes the cut goes across the belly.
• In another approach, you will be lying on your right side. The surgeon will make a 5- to 6-inch cut from to the left side of your belly, ending a little below your belly button.
• After finding your aorta, your surgeon will place two clamps on it, one below the aneurysm and one above it.
• The surgeon will cut the aneurysm open. The surgeon will attach a graft, a long tube of a man-made materials (either Dacron or polytetrafluoroethylene), to the sides of the aorta, connecting the parts above the aneurysm and below it. )
• The surgeon will wrap the wall of the aneurysm around the graft. The clamps are removed to allow blood to flow. The surgeon then closes up the incision.

See also: Aortic aneurysm repair - endovascular

Open surgery to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm is sometimes done as an emergency when there is any bleeding inside your body from the aneurysm.

You may also have an abdominal aortic aneurysm that is not causing any symptoms or problems. Your doctor may have found out about this problem from special tests called ultrasound or CT scan. There is a risk that this aneurysm may open up (rupture) if you do not have surgery to repair it. But surgery to repair the aneurysm may also be risky.

You and your doctor must decide whether the risk of having this surgery is smaller than the risk of bleeding if you do not have the surgery. The doctor is more likely to recommend surgery if the aneurysm is:

• Larger (about 2 inches)
• Growing more quickly (a little less than 1/4 inch over the last 6 to 12 months)

Gloviczki P, Ricotta JJ II. Aneurysmal vascular disease. In: Townsend CM, Beauchamp RD, Evers BM, Mattox KL, eds. Sabiston Textbook of Surgery. 18th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Saunders Elsevier; 2008:chap 65.

Greenhalgh RM, Powell JT. Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm. N Engl J Med. 2008 Jan 31;358(5):494-501.

Lederle FA, Kane RL, MacDonald R, Wilt TJ. Systematic review: repair of unruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Ann Intern Med. 2007 May 15;146(10):735-41.