Laparoscopic hand-assisted abdominal aortic surgery for aneurysmal and occlusive disease: a one-year clinical experience.

To describe our technique and one year clinical experience with laparoscopic hand-assisted abdominal aortic surgery for aneurysmal and occlusive disease.Between June 2001 and May 2002, 13 patients underwent a laparoscopic hand-assisted abdominal aortic operation.The median operating time and aortic cross-clamp time were 230 and 29 minutes respectively. The median intra-operative blood loss was 625cc. There were no peri-operative (30 day) deaths. The conversion to open surgery ratio was 1/13. One major arterial and one systemic complication occurred. Median hospital stay was 6 days (range 4-42 days).Laparoscopic hand-assisted abdominal aortic surgery for aneurysmal and occlusive disease is technically feasible and safe. The use of this laparoscopic technique combines the advantage of minimally invasive surgery and the reliability of an established open procedure without the risk of endoleaks in aneurysm surgery.