Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: An Unexpected Time Bomb in the Abdominal Cavity

The abdominal aorta is the continuation of the aorta in the abdomen, and is the largest artery in the body, responsible for the blood supply to the abdominal viscera and abdominal cavity, and continuing downward to supply blood to the lower extremities bilaterally. An abdominal aortic aneurysm is actually a dilated arterial disease caused by degenerative degeneration of the arterial vessel wall, rather than a “tumor” in the usual sense. When an abdominal aortic aneurysm ruptures, there is severe abdominal pain, blood loss, and shock; the greatest threat to the patient’s life is the sudden rupture of the aneurysm resulting in hemorrhage, which can be fatal in a short time. According to statistics, more than 90% of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm patients will die suddenly due to hemorrhage. Among diagnosed symptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysm patients, the rate of natural rupture of the tumor within two years is as high as 50%, while the success rate of abdominal aortic aneurysm rupture resuscitation is less than 30%. Abdominal aortic aneurysms tend to occur in the elderly, more often in men than in women. Among the patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm, a part of the emaciated patients can touch the throbbing mass in the abdomen, a few patients can have hidden pain in the abdomen and lower back, and most of the patients have almost no symptoms before rupture, so early diagnosis and early treatment are of great significance to these patients. There are many methods used in medicine to examine blood vessels, such as ultrasound, CT, magnetic resonance, arteriography and so on. Among these examinations, vascular color Doppler has become an important means of screening abdominal aortic aneurysms due to its advantages of being non-invasive, inexpensive and easy to operate. Currently, it is generally believed that any abdominal aortic aneurysm with a diameter of more than 5 cm should be treated immediately with surgery or intervention; for those with a diameter of less than 5 cm, depending on the individual situation, surgery or endoluminal intervention can be performed, or the aneurysm can be followed up and observed, and the growth of the aneurysm can be assessed by frequently reviewing ultrasound, so that intervention can be made as soon as it is found that there is a tendency for the aneurysm to significantly increase in size.