Complications from AAA Surgery

[Booper284]

My husband had aneursym surgery on December 22, 2009. Three weeks later his incision ruptured. Two days prior to the rupture he was seen by his surgeon because the initial incision was bleeding quite a bit, the surgeon looked at this and said nothing to worry about and sent him back to rehab. Two days later he was holding his intestines in his hands as he was being rushed to surgery. What could have caused this? Today, March 6, he still has so many complications from all this he is almost bedridden. What are his chances of ever being healthy again?

[Lee Kirksey, MD]

Open repair of AAA is a challenging operation and carries multiple risk including wound dehiscense which your husband suffered. Predisposing factors for wound separation include body habitus, nutritional status, connective tissue disorders, smoking among many others. Delayed dehiscense like your husband had after discharge at rehab is very uncommon. Im certain that many of his problems will continue to improve with time. Best of  Health

[skydnsr]

First of all, that is horrible.  I am so sorry for what happened to your husband.  And my second thought is that it might be pretty hard to get detailed answers out of your husband's doctors, as to how and why this happened.  I would suggest getting his complete medical records from the doctor(s) and hospital.  At least in the US, the patient has a legal right to those and is not required to give a reason for wanting them.  He may have to sign a form, and if the form asks for a reason why, he can just say something like, "for my files" or "for personal review" or something like that.  Once you get the records, if you don't have the expertise to read and understand them, you might need to get help from someone who does.  As to whether your husband will ever be healthy again, I think that depends on what happened and what the actual physical damage amounts to.  Again, I'm very sorry for the situation.