Ruptured aneurysm of the infrarenal abdominal aorta: impact of age and postoperative complications on mortality.

Between 1985 and 2000, a total of 871 patients underwent surgical treatment for infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), including 98 (11.2%) presenting with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms (RAAA). An optimized operative protocol was used to treat 77 RAAA starting in January 1989. The main features of the optimized protocol are routine use of intraoperative autotransfusion, revascularization by aortoaortic bypass, absence of systemic heparinization, and use of a collagen-impregnated prosthesis. Intraoperative mortality (IOM) was 3.8%. Postoperative mortality at 1 month (POM1) was 25.9% and postoperative mortality at 3 months (POM3) was 33.7%. Heart failure (p <0.001), hemodynamic shock (p <0.001), and hemorrhage (p = 0.04) were the only complications correlated with POM1. Pneumonia (p = 0.01) and sepsis (p = 0.01) were the only complications correlated with POM3. Isolated acute renal insufficiency was not a significant risk factor for postoperative mortality. Using a cutoff of 75 years, there was a significant age-related difference (p = 0.025) for POM1 but not for IOM and POM3. The findings of this study show that optimizing the operative protocol decreases mortality related to RAAA. The main predictor of POM1 was hemodynamic status while the main predictor of POM3 was infection. Isolated acute renal insufficiency was not a risk factor for mortality. Age should not be considered a contraindication for operative treatment.