An Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) is a bulging or swelling in the wall of the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body, which runs through the abdomen. The aorta carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body, and an aneurysm occurs when a section of its wall weakens and expands. We recently sat down with board-certified vascular surgeon C. Scott Callicutt, MD, FACS, RPVI of Premier Surgical Vascular & Vein Center in Knoxville, TN to discuss AAA, how dangerous it is, its symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment. Watch the video and read the interview below.

What is an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?

When you talk about aneurysms or specifically aortic aneurysms, an aneurysm is really an abnormal dilation of the artery. So, when I describe it to my patients, I say think about like a bicycle tire. You have a bicycle tire, and you’ve got a weakness in the wall of that bicycle tire. When you over inflate it with it will bellow out. That’s essentially what an aneurysm is. It’s just an abnormality in the wall of the vessel, and it will bellow out and grow over time.

How dangerous is an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?

That all depends on size, but that’s why we watch it and follow it. That’s why it’s very important to be followed, whether it be by us, vascular surgeons, or by your primary care doctor if you have been diagnosed with a triple A or another type of aneurysm.

What are the symptoms of having an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?

Many people don’t even know that they have an aneurysm until it becomes symptomatic. Obviously, a rupture would be the most catastrophic. However, you can have folks that have inflammation around the aneurysm or if it’s rapidly growing and causing back pain, not “I went to pick up three boxes yesterday and my back hurts the next day.” No, it’s persistent back pain for no real reason. Those are the typical symptoms.

How do you diagnose an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm if the symptoms aren’t obvious?

Oftentimes, these are found incidentally. They’re looking for a gallbladder problem, or they’re looking at a hernia. So, you’ve had an ultrasound or a CT scan. That’s typically just found incidentally. When we have a diagnosis of an aneurysm, then we’ll follow it typically with an ultrasound until it gets to a point where it may need to be fixed. Then, we’ll get a CT scan to define the anatomy and figure out what we need to do.

Who is an risk for developing an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?

The folks who have the family history of an aneurysm, those are the folks who are at the highest risk. Then men, typically over the age of 65, who have a longstanding history of smoking, people who have high blood pressure, people who have COPD or are smokers. Those are typically the people who are at risk for an aneurysm. It’s important to diagnose these things early if you have these risk factors. If it ruptures then, you know there’s a probability that you could not survive.

What is the treatment for an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?

As we follow these things over time, I always tell my patients, it’s almost like putting a melon out in the garden – you’re going to watch it grow over time. Typically, if you have a stable aneurysm, it may grow 1 to 3mm a year. However, it may grow fast. So, that’s why we want to follow these things. The faster it grows or the bigger it grows, the higher your risk of it rupturing, and once it meets that threshold where the risk of fixing it is much less than the risk of it busting, that’s when we go ahead and get a CT scan to identify the anatomy and kind of figure out how best to treat the problem.

How is an abdominal aortic aneurysm repaired?

We used to fix them through a big abdominal incision, essentially sew you in a new piece of pipe. Now, we do it much less invasively through a couple of small little incisions in the groin. The recovery is much faster, and the risk is much lower. Patients can have it done and go home the next day or in a couple of days, depending on how complex the repair is.

What should I do if I’m concerned about having an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm?

I think it’s important to recognize are you at risk? Do you have an aunt? Do you have an uncle? Do you have a grandfather? You have a great grandfather that had an aneurysm? You’re at risk. Are you a male over the age of 65, or are you a longstanding smoker? Are you a hypertensive patient? Do you have COPD? Those are the ones who are at risk. Go talk to your primary care doctor. Get a simple ultrasound. That’s what you need to do.

If you have concerns about AAA, we are here to help. Request an appointment with one of Premier’s board-certified vascular surgeons at (865) 588-8229 or online at https://www.premiervascularveincenter.com/book-online/

Premier Vascular & Vein Center is a division of Premier Surgical Associates in Knoxville, TN.