ABSTRACT
Popliteal artery aneurysms are the most common peripheral artery aneurysms, comprising 70% of these lesions. Surgical treatment of these aneurysms dates to Antyllus, a thirdcentury Greek physician who ligated both poles of the aneurysm and incised and packed the aneurysm sac. In 1785 John Hunter treated a coachman with a popliteal aneurysm by simply ligating the superficial femoral artery above the aneurysm (in what today is called Hunter’s canal ).[1] Matas performed endoaneurysmorrhaphy by ligating all branch vessels from within the aneurysm and suturing the walls of the aneurysm together; he performed this surgery on 154 popliteal aneurysms from 1888 to 1920. In the 1950s, aneurysm excision with vein interposition and aneurysm exclusion with venous bypass became the primary methods of treatment.
