Endovascular grafting is a minimally invasive method to treat an aortic aneurysm. An aneurysm is an abnormal widening or ballooning of a portion of an artery due to weakness in the wall of the blood vessel. While these can happen anywhere in the veins throughout the body, intestinal aneurysms are among the most common.

Instead of an open aneurysm repair in which your chest/abdomen are surgically opened, your surgeon may consider a procedure called an endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Endovascular surgery is performed inside the aorta using thin, long tubes called catheters to place a stent surrounded with a fabric liner to reinforce the weak spots. You may be eligible for endovascular stent grafting if your aneurysm has not ruptured and the aneurysm is 5 centimeters or more in size.

The goals of aortic aneurysm treatment are to reduce the risk of complications from aneurysms. The major risk for untreated aneurysms is rupture, and as an aneurysm gets bigger, the risk gets greater. There are several factors to consider when deciding to treat an aneurysm with surgery, including:

• The presence of symptoms, including abdominal pain, back pain or pain in the groin or inner thigh.
• The size of the aneurysm, in particular its diameter
• How fast the aneurysm is growing, in particular, rapid aneurysm growth (diameter grows more than 1 centimeter per year)
• The development of an of an aortic dissection, which can be accompanied by sudden and severe sharp tearing pain in the chest or back
• The patient’s overall medical condition