Aneurysm surgery is very serious if performed after an aneurysm rupture. The chance of survival after surgery for a ruptured aortic aneurysm is 50% to 70%. The greatest threat comes from complications of the rupture, including kidney failure.
Risks of the Procedure
Damage to surrounding blood vessels, organs, or other structures by instruments. Kidney damage. Limb ischemia (loss of blood flow to leg/feet) from clots. Groin wound infection.
"Hospital mortality at a high-volume center like U-M, where aortic dissection patients are taken care only by highly experienced aortic surgeons, can be as low as 5%, while the same patient operated on at a low-volume center may be 20% or higher," Eagle said.
The overall complication rate for EVAR is approximately 10% but can range up to 30% in some studies [4, 5, 17].
Although aneurysms contribute to more than 25,000 deaths in the United States each year, it's actually possible to live with and successfully treat an aortic aneurysm.
You can experience issues like muscle atrophy due to diminished physical activity during a long recovery. And you may develop anxiety or depression in response to the changes that you have gone through due to your brain aneurysm rupture and surgery.
Abdominal aortic repair is a major surgical procedure done to treat an aortic aneurysm. Elective surgery on an abdominal aortic aneurysm is indicated when an aneurysm is four or five cm or larger. Usually, the aneurysm is resected, and the aorta is replaced with a tube graft.
Surgical procedures for the repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms have a high success rate, with more than 95 percent of patients making a full recovery.
The operation generally takes 3-5 hours or longer if a complex craniotomy is planned. You will lie on the operating table and be given general anesthesia. After you are asleep, your head is placed in a three-pin skull fixation device, which attaches to the table and holds your head in position during surgery.
The hospital stay after craniotomy and aneurysm clipping is usually 4 to 6 days. If there is bleeding or other problems, such as narrowed blood vessels (vasospasm) in the brain or a buildup of fluid in the brain, the hospital stay can be 2 weeks, or longer.
If preventative treatment is recommended, the main techniques used are called neurosurgical clipping and endovascular coiling. Both techniques help prevent ruptures by stopping blood flowing into the aneurysm.
On average, patients who underwent repair for a ruptured aneurysm lived 5.4 years after surgery. Researchers found no significant differences in relative five-year survival rates between men and women or between age groups. However, researchers found differences in the repair of intact aneurysms.
Many people wake up within a few hours after surgery. However, a neurosurgeon may sometimes decide to keep a person asleep for a few days following surgery with sedation, using strong drugs. Sedating a person can help them recover, particularly if they have any swelling on their brain.
Although responsible for only 3%-5% of all cerebrovascular aneurysms, basilar artery aneurysms (BAAs) are among the most difficult to treat.
Eventually, if not treated, the aneurysm can pop open or rupture, and spill blood into your abdominal cavity or into the wall of the artery. If an aneurysm ruptures, it is considered a true medical emergency.
You will probably feel very tired for several weeks after this surgery. You may also have headaches or problems concentrating for 1 to 2 weeks. It can take 4 to 8 weeks to fully recover. The incisions may be sore for about 5 days after surgery.
About 25% of people who experience a brain aneurysm rupture die within 24 hours. Around 50% of people die within three months of the rupture due to complications. Of those who survive, about 66% experience permanent brain damage. Some people recover with little or no disability.
If an aortic aneurysm—a bulge in the wall of your body's main artery—is larger than 2 inches (or 5.0 to 5.5 centimeters) in diameter, is growing fast, or is causing serious symptoms (such as pain or trouble breathing), it is advisable to consider the possibility of surgical repair.
With rapid, expert treatment, patients can often recover fully. An unruptured brain aneurysm may cause zero symptoms. People can live with them for years before detection.
Can people live a long time with a brain aneurysm? Absolutely. Many aneurysms cause no symptoms at all. Some people live for years without knowing they have a brain aneurysm.
Memory involves many parts of the brain, and if a brain aneurysm rupture or treatment damages any of those areas, your memory will be affected. Survivors of ruptured aneurysms usually do not remember the event or much of what happened in the hospital, and never will. This can be disconcerting but is normal.
You may have some bruising around the incision, but you should not have much pain. If you do have pain, your doctor may recommend or prescribe pain medicines. Your doctor will regularly check the site of your aneurysm. Some people need to have this surgery more than once.
Some patients may experience some or all of the following social-emotional changes. Most survivors experience temporary loss of control over emotions. This can manifest itself in anger, frustration, and lashing out at yourself and others. You may find that you get tearful for no reason at all.
Whether you have had treatment such as clipping or coiling or doctors are managing your unruptured aneurysm without surgery, you can expect to continue most normal activities, unless your doctors advise you otherwise — and depending on circumstances, that can also include flying.