Surgical repair of an AAA can be broadly classified into either open surgery or endovascular (minimally invasive) surgery. Open surgery for AAAs has been available since the 1950s and has seen some minor refinements to the technique since that time. In contrast, endovascular surgery (EVAR) for AAAs was first developed in the 1980s but has seen significant changes to the technique and the technology of the devices used over the years and has slowly been able to achieve similar outcomes to open surgery for a good number of cases.
Despite its promise of small scars and lesser bleeding, endovascular surgery has not been able to completely replace open surgical repair as the gold standard operation for AAAs.