The Vascutek AnacondaTM Stent Graft System Phase II IDE Study

Abdominal aortic aneurysms afflict a large number of patients in the United States and world-wide. The treatment of this disorder is based upon the concept of aneurysm repair prior to the presentation of symptoms or rupture. Thus aneurysm repair can be viewed as a prophylactic procedure embarked upon to prevent the disastrous complications of a ruptured aneurysm. The decision to treat an aneurysm electively is based upon a risk to benefit ratio. Treatment options include medical management of co-morbidities (hypertension, pulmonary disease, etc.) with observation of the aneurysm, open surgical aneurysm repair through a transabdominal or retroperitoneal approach, and endovascular aneurysm repair. The decision to intervene is based upon physician judgment. Once the decision to intervene is made, the mode of the intervention must be chosen. Although open surgical repair is more invasive and has been noted to have a higher morbidity and mortality(1;2) than most endovascular reports, few argue with the effectiveness of the procedure. To date, open surgical repair remains the gold standard of care for the aneurysm patient. Endovascular repair has several beneficial characteristics in comparison to an open surgical approach. They include the potential for decreased need for blood transfusions, shorter intensive care unit and total hospital stays, the lack of endotracheal intubation, to name a few. However, the procedure requires adequate imaging prior to graft placement and during the follow-up period, in addition to the availability of a trained team to ensure proper device placement.