Minilaparotomy abdominal aortic aneurysm repair in the era of minimally invasive vascular surgery: preliminary results

Background:  This study aimed to evaluate the early post-operative clinical impact of minimal incision aortic surgery (MIAS) for infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair in comparison with the standard open repair. Methods:  A case-control study was conducted. Patients of groups A (19 patients) and B (18 patients) were treated with the MIAS technique and the standard open method, respectively. Results:  There were significant differences between the two groups in fluid resuscitation during the operation. Post-operatively, there were significant differences between groups A and B in the time until starting liquid diet (2 ± 0.74 versus 3.55 ± 0.85 post-operative days (PD), respectively; P < 0.05), the time until starting the solid diet (3.05 ± 0.77 versus 5.11 ± 0.75 PD, respectively; P < 0.05), the time of ambulation (2 ± 0.74 versus 3.4 ± 0.98 PD, respectively; P < 0.05) and in the hospital length of stay (4 ± 0.81 versus 9.7 ± 2.66 days, respectively; P < 0.05). Conclusions:  The MIAS technique, for repair of infrarenal aortic aneurysms, is a safe and feasible procedure that combines the early advantages of endovascular repair with the long-term advantages of the traditional open repair.