Purpose: Groin incision for access to the femoral artery is necessary for stent graft repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). However, lymphatic and infectious complications can occur during wound healing after surgery. A vertical incision traditionally is used, but a new oblique incision technique has the potential to reduce complications. We report our results from AAA stent repairs performed via oblique incisions at our center for a 33-month period.
Methods: Data for 134 consecutive patients undergoing elective stent repair of asymptomatic infrarenal AAA performed by 2 cardiovascular surgeons at a single center from July 1, 2000, to March 31, 2003, were gathered for analysis. Wound complication percentages for infections, paresthesias, sepsis, and seroma were calculated.
Results: In 134 patients, a total of 278 incisions were made. Reasons for extra incisions included improving catheter entry angle (5 cases), tunneling for vascular tapes (3 cases), and initial approach too low (2 cases). The percentages were, however, calculated on a per-patient basis. Thirty day analysis revealed a 0% infection rate, 4.7% incidence of paresthesias, 2.38% rate of wound seroma, and 0% wound sepsis rate.
Conclusion: Because of the nonexistent infection rate and low wound complication rate, our data supports the use of oblique groin incisions for stent repair of asymptomatic infrarenal AAA.