title: Mortality and reintervention following elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The objective of this study is to provide an up-to-date meta-analysis on the short- and long-term mortality rates of elective repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) via the open and endovascular approaches.
  
  
  METHODS
  MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled trials, conference proceeding from major vascular meetings were searched for randomized trials comparing open vs elective endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) of AAAs. A random-effects model was used for analysis. Risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of open vs EVAR were calculated for short- and long-term mortality and reintervention rates.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis encompassed four randomized controlled trials with a total of 2783 patients. The open repair group resulted in significantly increased 30-day postoperative all-cause mortality compared with EVAR repair group (3.2% vs 1.2%; RR, 2.81; 95% CI, 1.60-4.94); however, there is no statistical difference in the long-term all-cause mortality between both groups (RR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.86-1.10). Interestingly, fewer patients underwent reintervention procedures in the open repair group compared with those who had EVAR repair (9.3% vs 18.9%; RR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.40-0.60), but this finding is doubtful due to the large heterogeneity. Lastly, no statistical difference in long-term mortality rates attributable to cardiovascular disease (CVD), aneurysm related, or stroke were found between the two types of repair.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of this meta-analysis demonstrate that the 30-day all-cause mortality rate is higher with open than with EVAR repair; however, there is no statistical difference in the long-term all-cause and cause-specific mortality between both groups. The reintervention rate attributable to procedural complication was higher in the EVAR group. Because of the equivalency of long-term outcomes and the short-term benefits of EVAR, an endovascular-first approach to AAAs can be supported by the meta-analysis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular Surgery, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Qadura
authors.forename: Farhan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pervaiz
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Harlock
authors.forename: Ashraf
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Azzoni
authors.forename: Forough
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Farrokhyar
authors.forename: Kamyar
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kahnamoui
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Szalay
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rapanos
mesh_terms: D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery*; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D006801:Humans; D012086:Reoperation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures