Staged repair of a thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm with mesenteric ischemia using the reversed elephant trunk technique.

Improvements in surgical techniques, and adjuncts for spinal cord protection and perioperative care have resulted in decreased morbidity and mortality in repair of thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm (TAAA). However the surgical treatment of TAAA of extent II is still associated with high mortality, especially in patients with preoperative co-morbidities. We report a successful staged repair of extent II TAAA using the reversed elephant trunk technique for a patient with ischemic colitis.