title: Health-related quality-of-life outcomes after open versus endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endovascular repair (EVAR) of abdominal aortic aneurysms is a safe alternative to open aneurysm repair (OAR) in selected patients. The aim of this study was to compare the health-related quality-of-life (HR-QoL) outcomes of patients following EVAR and OAR.
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature search of PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library identified five randomized trials that reported on HR-QoL in EVAR and OAR for elective management of infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. No consistent HR-QOL instrument was used among the studies. A meta-analysis was performed on the 36-Item Short Form (SF-36) and the EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D) HR-QoL results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SF-36 general health scores were higher for EVAR at 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively. SF-36 physical functioning scores were higher for EVAR at 6 months but this advantage was lost at 12 months. In addition, SF-36 social functioning scores were higher for EVAR at 12 months. SF-36 component summary scores were not significantly different. EVAR was associated with a better EQ-5D score at 3, 6, and 12 months, but not at 24 months of follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  EVAR was associated with better HR-QoL in some domains up to 12 months postoperatively. There is insufficient data to demonstrate a HR-QoL advantage beyond 12 months. More studies are required to examine any long-term HR-QoL advantages for either intervention.
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: ahmed.kayssi@mail.utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Ahmed
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kayssi
authors.affiliation: Center for Surgery and Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: Ann
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: DeBord Smith
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Roche-Nagle
authors.affiliation: Division of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Mass.
authors.forename: Louis L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Nguyen
mesh_terms: D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000601:surgery*; D057510:Endovascular Procedures; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*