Benefits and Risks – Endovascular Stent Grafting

There are risks with any type of surgery. The benefits and safety of any surgical procedure must be carefully evaluated. Ask your doctor how these potential benefits and risks may affect you.

Benefits

Endovascular stent graft therapy is a minimally invasive surgical procedure. It is called minimally invasive, because with endovascular stent graft therapy it is not necessary to perform open-chest surgery or remove part of your aorta.

For some patients, this reduces the recovery time by several days. In many cases, patients can return home within 2 days and return to normal activities within 4 to 6 weeks.

Risks

Other complications with endovascular stent grafting include:

• Blood leakages around the stent graft
• Blockage of the flow of blood through the stent graft
• Movement of the stent graft from its original site of placement
• Fracture of the stent graft
• Infection
• Rupture of the aneurysm or aorta

To monitor these possible complications, your doctor will ask you to schedule periodic follow-up appointments after the procedure. It is important to keep these appointments to make sure your stent graft is working correctly.

Endovascular Stent Grafting Is Not for Everyone

Your aortic aneurysm may not be accessible through endovascular methods, or it may be too close to other vessels to be able to be repaired successfully. Your doctor or vascular surgeon will help you decide whether endovascular stent grafting or open surgery is the best treatment option for you.

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• About Minimally Invasive Endovascular Repair With a Stent Graft
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