ABSTRACT

Popliteal artery aneurysms are the most common peripheral aneurysms accounting for approximately 70%. Surgical treatment dates back to Antyllus, a third-century 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 supercial 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 operation on 154 popliteal aneurysms between 1888 and 1920. In the 1950s, aneurysm exclusion and bypass with reversed saphenous vein interposition became the primary method of treatment. More recently endovascular repair has become common.