Objective: To document mortality after endovascular repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (RAAAs).
Data sources: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases.
Study selection: Articles that reported data on mortality after endovascular repair of RAAAs were identified. Only patients with true ruptures were included. Additionally, information on mortality after concurrent open repair was sought.
Data extraction: One of the authors reviewed all of the studies and extracted appropriate data. A total of 43 articles were identified, 14 of which were excluded.
Data synthesis: Twenty-nine articles with 897 patients who underwent endovascular repair met the inclusion criteria. Of the patients with available information, 86% were men; 29% had been operated on under local anesthesia; 28% were hemodynamically unstable; 17% required intra-aortic balloon occlusion; 48% received bifurcated stent grafts; 6% had endovascular procedures converted to open repair intraoperatively; and 5.5% developed abdominal compartment syndrome. In-hospital and/or 30-day mortality ranged between 0% and 54% in different series, whereas the pooled mortality after endovascular repair was 24.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 19.8%-29.4%). In 19 studies reporting results of both endovascular and concurrent open repair from the same unit, the pooled mortality after open repair was 44.4% (95% CI, 40.0%-48.8%), and the pooled overall mortality for RAAA undergoing endovascular or open repair was 35% (95% CI, 30%-41%).
Conclusions: Endovascular repair of RAAAs is associated with acceptable mortality rates. Additional studies will be required to verify these promising results and precisely define the role of endovascular treatment as an additional therapeutic option for RAAAs.