United Health Services Hospitals is one of only a handful of medical centers in the Northeast to offer the new approach. The technique, recently approved by the FDA, allows doctors to insert a woven polyester graft inside an aneurysm, or bulge, that occurs in the aorta, the giant artery that runs in front of the spine through the middle of the body. This is much less stressful for the patient, and leads to quicker recovery. The latest technology in action With the new method, a vascular surgeon and a surgical radiologist, working with a team of nurses and technicians, insert catheters through two sets of arteries to reach the aorta. Then they deploy the graft, which hooks to the inside of the aorta and stays in place.
Blood flows through the graft, and the shell of the aneurysm eventually shrinks.
The surgery takes about three hours to perform, with the patient under local anesthesia and sedation. And aneurysm ruptures occur in about 15,000 Americans every year, making it the 13th leading cause of death in the United States. Most people with aneurysms have no warning symptoms, but a family doctor giving a patient a thorough physical examination often can find the bulge while pressing deeply in the abdominal area. An aneurysm grows at a predictable rate, and when one reaches about two inches in diameter, a repair operation is necessary. All rights reserved.