Introduction
Diminished pelvic arterial flow as a result of intentional coverage/embolization of internal iliac arteries (IIA) during isolated endovascular common iliac artery aneurysm (CIAA) repair or endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms (EVAR) may result in symptomatic pelvic ischemia. While generally well tolerated, in severe cases pelvic ischemia may manifest as recalcitrant buttock claudication, vasculogenic impotence, or perineal, vesicle, rectal, and/or spinal cord ischemia. Branched graft technology has recently become available; however, many patients are not candidates for endovascular repair with these devices. Therefore, techniques to preserve pelvic arterial flow are needed. We reviewed our outcomes of isolated endovascular common iliac artery aneurysm repair or EVAR in conjunction with unilateral external-internal iliac artery bypass.
Methods
Single center, retrospective review of 10 consecutive patients who underwent hybrid endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) or common iliac artery aneurysm (CIAA) repair with concomitant external-internal iliac artery bypass between 2006 and 2015. Demographics, index procedural details, post-operative symptoms, hospital length of stay (LOS), follow-up imaging, and bypass patency were recorded.
Results
The cohort of 10 patients was all men with a mean age of 71 years (range of 56–84). Hybrid repair consisted of contralateral IIA coil embolization followed by EVAR with external iliac artery- internal iliac artery (EIA-IIA) bypass. All EIA-IIA bypasses were performed via a standard lower quadrant retroperitoneal approach with a prosthetic bypass graft. Technical success was 100% and there were no peri-operative deaths. One patient developed transient paraplegia, one patient had buttock claudication on the side of his hypogastric embolization contra-lateral to his iliac bypass, and one developed post-operative impotence. 20% of patients sustained long term complications (buttock claudication and post-operative impotence). Mean LOS was 2.8 days (range 1–9 days). Post-operative imaging was obtained in 90% of patients and mean follow-up was 10.8 months (range 0.5–36 months). All bypasses remained patent.
Conclusion
While branched graft technology continues to evolve, strategies to maintain adequate pelvic circulation are necessary in order to avoid the devastating complications of pelvic ischemia. We have demonstrated that a hybrid approach combining EVAR or isolated endovascular common iliac artery exclusion with a unilateral external-internal iliac bypass via a retroperitoneal approach is well tolerated with a short LOS and excellent patency rates.