Quality of life after emergency abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

Background: Quality of life issues following surgical procedures, especially those with high mortality, should be of prime importance. There have been few studies on the quality of life of patients following emergency abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs. The decision to continue to offer surgery to these patients, especially with present monetary constraints, should rely heavily on quality of life issues. Audits of major surgical procedures should be undertaken and quality of life included. Methods: All patients in the Hawkes Bay area who had undergone emergency abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs since 1981 were identified and their quality of life assessed by means of the short form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Results: One hundred and fifteen patients were identified as having had an abdominal aortic aneurysm repaired as an emergency. Sixty patients died peri-operatively and 19 subsequently. There were 28 patients available to complete the questionnaire, of whom 75% rated their global quality of life as good to excellent. Using the SF-36 questionnaire, there was no statistically significant difference between those patients who had undergone surgery (whether proven leak or not) and the age-matched healthy population. Conclusions: Quality of life remains good to excellent in the majority of patients following emergency abdominal aortic aneurysm repairs. This may help justify surgery being offered to patients with this condition. Quality of life should be considered as an important outcome rather than mortality only.