The death rate following the repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is something that you’d definitely want to know.
However, if your doctor is already discussing surgical treatment with you, it’s a safe bet that it would be very dangerous to decline surgery.
After all, the aneurysm in your abdominal aorta is at high risk of rupturing, and the internal bleeding from that can be fatal in minutes.
All invasive surgeries do carry risks, and surgeons always weigh the benefits of the surgery against the risks of going without it.
The case of an abdominal aortic aneurysm is no exception to this standard of medical practice.
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“Most randomized control trials indicate the 30-day perioperative mortality for elective repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm is about 5%,” says Seyed-Mojtaba Gashti, MD, a board certified vascular surgeon with Broward Health Medical Center in Florida.
“This is major surgery and presence of a AAA is a marker for other significant cardiovascular disease. As a matter of fact, beyond the 30-day, most people die from other cardiovascular causes, such as MI, CVA, etc.”
MI = myocardial infarction (heart attack).
CVA = cerebral vascular accident (stroke).
It is advised that men over the age of 70 be screened for the presence of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. In addition to male gender and older age, high blood pressure and smoking are risk factors.
Dr. Gashti specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of vascular disease including abdominal and aortic aneurysm.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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