Failure to preserve the internal iliac artery during abdominal aortic aneurysm repair is associated with mortality and ischemic complications.

Objective: Open or endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) can involve sacrifice of the internal iliac artery (IIA). In the present study, we investigated the effect of IIA exclusion on ischemic complications and overall mortality.

Methods: The data from 326 patients who had undergone elective open surgical or endovascular treatment of a nonruptured AAA from January 2010 to December 2019 in a tertiary hospital were retrospectively reviewed. Ischemic complications included buttock claudication, spinal ischemia (including paraparesis), ischemic colitis, lower limb paresthesia, and skin necrosis. Their duration and mortality during the study period were investigated.

Results: Nearly 50% of patients (148; 45.4%) had undergone endovascular aortic aneurysm repair and 178 (54.6%) had undergone open surgery. The median patient age was 78 years (range, 31-94 years). The median follow-up period was 1140 days (range, 0-4757 days). Of the 326 patients, 50 (15.3%) had died during follow-up. The bilateral IIAs were preserved in 187 patients (57.4%), a single IIA in 86 patients (26.4%), and no IIA in 53 patients (16.3%). Ischemic complications occurred in 57 patients (17.5%). Multivariable analysis revealed failure to preserve the bilateral IIAs (hazard ratio [HR], 8.65; 95% confidence interval [CI], 4.31-17.36; P < .01), management of the IIA (HR, 3.05, 95% CI, 2.17-4.28; P < .01), and hyperlipidemia (HR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.04-4.17; P = .04) affected the occurrence of ischemic complications. Furthermore, univariable analysis revealed that patients had experienced more ischemic complications when a single IIA (HR, 6.97; 95% CI, 3.74-13.02; P < .01) or none of the IIAs had been preserved (HR, 8.88; 95% CI, 4.12-19.16; P < .01) than when both IIAs were preserved. Moreover, multivariable analysis revealed that stage 5 chronic kidney disease (HR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.09-6.14; P = .03), age >75 years (HR, 2.48; 95% CI, 1.12-5.49; P = .03), cerebrovascular accident (HR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.00-3.78; P = .05), and failure to preserve the bilateral IIAs (HR, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.02-3.46; P = .04) were associated with higher mortality after AAA repair.

Conclusions: IIA exclusion is a risk factor for ischemic complications and overall mortality. Thus, preservation of the IIA as much as possible during AAA repair is recommended.