Popliteal artery aneurysm - endovascular versus open treatment: a review

Abstract

The second most frequent location for arterial aneurysms is the popliteal artery. The aneurysms found in this vessel make up 70% of all peripheral aneurysms, and their traditional treatment of choice is open surgery. However, the endovascular repair is another possibility of intervention, and there are divergences regarding the indications and compared results of both techniques. The objective of this study is to analyze the available literature comparing these two approaches and where it stands on this matter. This was done through a literature review based on retrospective observational studies published in the last 11 years. For this review, the appropriate search terms were used on the search engines PubMed, CAPES and LILACS, and the posterior selection of 13 articles for reviewing was done. The analyzed literature is largely controversial and divergent in relation to the benefits and hazards of one technique over the other. What was seen was that open surgery remains the conventional treatment of choice, however, the endovascular approach is a less invasive option, that results in a shorter length of intrahospital stay, and thus is a viable alternative for patients who are older, of high surgical risk or present comorbidities. Nonetheless, a larger number of randomized clinical trials, with adequate inclusion criteria, is necessary for it to be possible to determine the real advantages of one technique over the other, as well as their indications, efficacies, and safeties.