Your aorta is the biggest blood vessel inside your body. It’s responsible for transporting blood coming from your heart to your pelvis, abdomen, and legs. If its walls weaken, however, they could bulge or swell. This condition is AAA or abdominal aortic aneurysm, specifically when it occurs in the abdomen. Although this doesn’t usually cause any issues, it could be fatal when it ruptures.
How is an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Diagnosed?
Reverehealth.com tells us that an aortic abdominal aneurysm that hasn’t ruptured is typically diagnosed when your abdomen is being examined or scanned for an entirely different reason. Your doctor would feel your abdomen to check if your aneurysm has a throbbing mass or if it is rigid. Your doctor might likewise assess blood flow to your legs and utilize an abdominal MRI, CT scan, X-ray, or ultrasound for scanning your abdomen.
How is It Treated?
Depending on the exact location and size of your abdominal aortic aneurysm, your doctor might recommend surgery, such as endovascular surgery or open abdominal surgery, in order to remove or repair your damaged tissue. The exact surgery would be based on aneurysm type and overall health. The good news is that if your abdominal aortic aneurysm is small, approximately smaller than 4cm wide, your doctor might opt to just monitor it in the meantime rather than conduct surgery.
Open abdominal surgery is typically used for removing your aorta’s damaged portions. It’s very invasive and comes with a lengthier recovery period. However, it’s normally the best recourse if your aneurysm has already ruptured or is extremely huge. On the other hand, endovascular surgery is less invasive than open abdominal surgery and involves grafting in order to repair your aorta’s weakened walls.
What’s the Outlook?
If your doctor decides to perform endovascular surgery, the recovery time is only around two weeks. However, if he decides you’re better off with an open abdominal surgery, the recovery time would be around five to six weeks. Do take note however that the success of the surgery and your recovery would be significantly dependent on whether your abdominal aortic aneurysm was detected before it ruptured or not. The outlook is normally positive if it was found prior to rupturing.
