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Jim Reaser has had a long history with Mayo Clinic for specialty care, but it was his primary care physician in Rapid City, South Dakota, who recommended he come here most recently, for repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. Here, Peter Gloviczki, M.D. director of the Gonda Vascular Center, and his team determined Jim was a candidate for endovascular aortic aneurysm repair (EVAR).
EVAR is performed by a vascular surgeon and a specialized team of physicians, nurses and technicians who are trained both in open and endovascular techniques. The close collaboration and team approach between the Division of Vascular Surgery, the Anesthesia Department, the Division of Interventional Radiology and specialized allied health care staff makes Mayo an international leader in endovascular aneurysm repair.
For patients who are candidates for endovascular repair, there can be several benefits to this type of procedure:
1. EVAR may be performed under general anesthesia or local anesthesia with sedation, which can be an alternative for patients who are not candidates for general anesthesia because of severe heart or lung disease.
2. Smaller incisions or no incisions at all, resulting in less postoperative pain, fewer wound complications and better cosmetic results.
3. Fewer postoperative cardiac, respiratory or renal complications, especially in patients with significant heart and lung disease.
4. Shorter hospital stays, such as one-two days rather than five-seven days.
The physicians and surgeons in the Gonda Vascular Center have performed more than 1000 EVAR procedures. Mr. Reaser was the 1000th patient at Mayo Clinic to undergo this procedure in May 2010. Here Mr. Reaser, just three days after his surgery, shares his Mayo Clinic experience:
This story was submitted by Julie Moenck, Public Affairs consultant at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
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