Doctors in Delhi hospital operate on 20cm aortic aneurysm that ‘could have been fatal’

Doctors of a Delhi hospital operated on a giant aortic aneurysm — a ballooning of wall of the largest blood vessel carrying oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. An aneurysm is like a ticking time bomb as it can lead to uncontrolled bleeding if it bursts.

“A 30-year-old man came to our OPD with a 20cm aneurysm; usually it is just 17 to 18 mm or more than 10 times smaller. He had been diagnosed in Lucknow, but they did not want to operate it because of the risks involved. Without surgery, it was 100% fatal; one in four of a 6cm aneurysm bursts within a year,” said Dr V.S. Bedi, chairperson, Institute of Vascular & Endovascular Sciences at Sir Ganga Ram hospital.

Giant abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) are defined as more than 11cm, and are rarely described in literature.

It was also surprising for the doctors because it is usually found in patient over 60 years of age.

“For aneurysms, we use a graft, a tube-like structure that replaces the damaged part of the blood vessel. The procedure in itself was not very different, but the sheer size of the aneurysm made it very challenging. The aneurysm could be felt from the back, meaning it was occupying a lot of space in the abdomen,” said Dr Bedi.

The high risk surgery took Dr Bedi’s team four hours where the aneurysm sac was opened, blood flow controlled and then restored with a graft. During the surgery almost one litre (two kidney trays) of blood clots was removed which left a huge cavity in the sac.

“The surgery went quite well, and the patient was removed from the ventilator the day after the surgery. He started ingesting fluids and talking within three days. He came for a follow up today and he is doing very well,” said Dr Bedi.