Oblique groin incision for endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
OBJECTIVE
Groin incision for access to the femoral artery is necessary for stent graft repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). However, lymphatic and infectious complications can occur during wound healing after surgery. A vertical incision traditionally is used, but a new oblique incision technique has the potential to reduce complications. We report our results from AAA stent repairs performed via oblique incisions at our center for a 33-month period.


METHODS
Data for 134 consecutive patients undergoing elective stent repair of asymptomatic infrarenal AAA performed by 2 cardiovascular surgeons at a single center from July 1, 2000, to March 31, 2003, were gathered for analysis. Wound complication percentages for infections, paresthesias, sepsis, and seroma were calculated.


RESULTS
In 134 patients, a total of 278 incisions were made. Reasons for extra incisions included improving catheter entry angle (5 cases), tunneling for vascular tapes (3 cases), and initial approach too low (2 cases). The percentages were, however, calculated on a per-patient basis. Thirty day analysis revealed a 0% infection rate, 4.7% incidence of paresthesias, 2.38% rate of wound seroma, and 0% wound sepsis rate.


CONCLUSIONS
Because of the nonexistent infection rate and low wound complication rate, our data supports the use of oblique groin incisions for stent repair of asymptomatic infrarenal AAA.
Watson
Daniel R
DR
Division of Endovascular Medicine and Surgery, Riverside Methodist Hospital, Columbus, Ohio 43214, USA.
Tan
James
J
Wiseman
Lori
L
Ansel
Gary M
GM
Botti
Chip
C
George
Barry
B
Snow
Richard
R
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000601:surgery*; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D005260:Female; D006119:Groin / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019919:Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D015607:Stents; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*