Anaesthesia for ruptured aortic aneurysm

The incidence of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm (rAAA) has been reduced by a national screening programme targeting early identification and treatment of aneurysms. Despite these efforts, rAAA remains a common anaesthetic and surgical emergency responsible for over 5000 deaths per year in the UK. rAAA leads to complex multiorgan critical illness which requires immediate multidisciplinary collaboration and intervention. Anaesthetists play a key role in resuscitation, coordination of care and managing major haemorrhage and multi-organ sequelae of a ruptured aorta. In this article, we describe an overview of the risk factors, current guidelines, service organization, and treatment for rAAA; with focus on the perioperative anaesthetic considerations for open aneurysm repair and endovascular aneurysm repair.