Endovascular treatment for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms.

When abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) rupture and are untreated, they cause death. In addition, ruptured AAAs have high mortality (35-55%) and morbidity rates when treated by standard open surgical methods. These high rates have not been substantially reduced despite the introduction of many improvements in open operative technique and perioperative care. Endovascular approaches to treat AAAs introduced in the early 1990s provided an opportunity to alter substantially treatment outcomes when rupture occurred. This article details how these endovascular approaches, which include endovascular stent-grafts, can be applied to the treatment of RAAAs, and what advantages these new catheter based approaches to treatment offer.