Is it a simple fix or a tricky blighter.

My friend who recently broke his neck has an AAA.
It has been monitored by his vascular consultant for some time and had previously been told when it gets to 55mm they will act.

A CT scan 3 months ago showed it at 50mm at the hospital dealing with it, but was rescanned by the hospital who having been looking after him with regard to his neck a month ago were I was first told it was now 53mm.

I have been in contact with the blood flow clinic at the hospital who have been monitoring the aneurysm and are very keen to get him to them as they are concerned for him and surprised the hospital where he is now are not.

My friends neck is in the hands of st Mary’s as an out patient and I trust them that he is on his way to a full recovery so now this AAA is his final hurdle after having both his hips replaced by the wonderful people at stanmore last year.

So again is Fixing a AAA just another day at the office or squeaky bum time.

pretty common but still not a piece of piss

could start here

Pretty sure I said something similar last time but you sound like one hell of a good friend. All the best to your mate and to you as well.

Yup, my Father had his fixed with a stent.
OK it’s a risk for an older person to go under, and there can be complications, but it’s pretty workaday (although Dad did update his will..)

Unfortunately, it’s no walk in the park. One option is an endovascular repair (stent). Much less invasive surgey, quicker recovery etc but they don’t always go to plan and they have to be followed up very closely. Last time I checked it was a CT scan yearly for life to make sure the stent hadn’t moved.

The other option is an open repair. This is a big operation that carries significant risk. Having it repaired in a planned fashion carries a lower risk than an emergency repair (over 50% mortality rate for emergency) and significant strides have been made in care to reduce elective mortality rates now.

The local surgeon will be able to advise on weather it is suitable to be stented (the anatomy of them varies, so not all are suitable) and also on their operative mortality rates.

Best wishes. Jeff

well it s less uncomfortable than having a tooth pulled but when you sign the waiver detailling the possible risks your mate will appreciate its a serious undertaking that can be life changing ( risk of stroke) or life ending..

The mrs first husband died when his ruptured, no one knew he had one, felt unwell for a day or two, got worse, hospital, drs tried to establish problem, queried aa moments before it popped!

Thanks all, not quite as risk free as I hoped, will do my best to make sure watford get him northwick park on Monday for his scan and then see what the doctors say.

My school career was a laugh which I never took seriously much to the dismay of some of my teachers (recognised genius when they saw it). But if I could do it all again knowing then what I know now I would at least try to be a doctor as to be able to make a real difference to peoples lives must be a wonderful thing.

I think that’s why it annoys me so when I come across the occasional useless one and I value those who are brilliant.
As I have learnt through my association with my friend that not all doctors are equal.

If he has a broken neck than the anesthetist may not be happy.

My mum broke her neck and needed reconstructive surgery on her hand shortly afterwards.

They wouldn’t do a general anaesthetic as they couldn’t bend her neck to insert tubes for intubation so she ended up with a nerve block in her arm and was awake for it.

Both my Mum and Dad died from AAA – there were no indications beforehand they literally just fell over.
Although not hereditary I’m going to get scanned just to check.
Although I don’t smoke, M&D both did until later in their lives and this is suspected to have been a major contributor. [If there’s a plus side, apparently it’s a pretty good way to go]