ABSTRACT
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is considered a chronic degenerative disease with a
predisposition to gradual enlargement and eventual rupture. The mortality of conventional
open repair (OR) of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) remains around 41% despite
a constant, albeit slow, improvement in mortality of around 3.5% per decade (1). Although it
has been speculated that patient selection may account for some of this steady improvement,
Bown et al. (1) were unable to demonstrate any clear association with preoperative selection,
intraoperative or postoperative factors. In addition to this persistent high mortality, recovery
amongst the survivors may be protracted with prolonged stay in the intensive therapy unit
(ITU) and in hospital.
