Results of a double-barrel technique with commercially available devices for hypogastric preservation during aortoilac endovascular abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

Objective: To assess technical feasibility and short-term outcome of a novel hypogastric preservation technique in patients with aortoiliac aneurysms using commercially available endografts without device modification.

Methods: Multi-institution review of prospectively acquired database of patients undergoing double-barrel endograft repair of aortoiliac aneurysms.

Results: Twenty-two patients underwent endovascular aneurysm repair for aortoiliac aneurysms from 2010 to 2011, with 23 double-barrel hypogastric preservation procedures successfully completed in 21 patients. The technique involved bifurcated main body placement followed by simultaneous deployment of parallel endograft limbs into the external iliac (ipsilateral approach) and hypogastric (contralateral femoral or brachial approach) arteries. Bilateral hypogastric branches were performed in two patients, and unilateral branches with and without contralateral coil embolization were performed in nine and ten patients, respectively. Procedural success rate was 96%, technical success rate (successful implantation with immediate aneurysm exclusion and no observed endoleak) was 88%, and access was fully-percutaneous in 86%. Two type III endoleaks between branch components were noted on completion angiograms, but both resolved spontaneously on follow-up imaging. One type Ib endoleak was noted on postoperative imaging (contralateral to hypogastric branch, repaired with limb extension), as were three type II endoleaks (14%) without sac expansion. Early (<2 weeks) limb occlusion (one external iliac, two hypogastric) occurred in two patients, though no subsequent occlusions have occurred (mean follow-up, 7.2 months; range, 1-20 months). Primary patency for external iliac and hypogastric limbs at 6 months was 95% and 88%, respectively. There were no deaths; complications included groin hematoma in 10% and acute renal insufficiency in 5%. Buttock claudication (n = 4) only occurred in patients who had ipsilateral coil embolization of hypogastric arteries (n = 9) for bilateral iliac aneurysms in which only unilateral hypogastric preservation was performed, resulting in rate of 44% in these patients.

Conclusions: The double-barrel technique for hypogastric preservation is technically feasible across multiple interventionalists using commercially available endografts without device modification. These procedures are associated with minimal morbidity, acceptable short-term limb-patency rates, and reduced buttock claudication compared with those involving contralateral hypogastric embolization.