Introduction:

Abdominal aortic aneurysms are a health problem because of the high mortality they cause. Their follow-up and treatment are essential to avoid post-surgical complications.

Objective:

Characterize the main post-surgical complications of patients with electively operated abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Methods:

An observational and descriptive study was conducted in 94 electively operated patients at the National Institute of Angiology and Vascular Surgery after having a diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysm. The study variables were: age, sex, skin color, associated diseases, aneurysm diameter, antibiotic prophylaxis, surgical time, type of vascular prosthesis, type of postoperative complication, time of onset of complications, postoperative hospital stay, and state at discharge moment. Absolute and relative frequencies were determined.

Results:

56.4% of operated patients had some form of complication, which were more common in the males over 60 years. The most predominant complications were bronchopneumonie (24.5%) and cardiac arrhythmias (20.8%). The proportion of complications was shown to be higher in patients with forked grafts, as well as in those without prophylaxis and with prolonged surgical time. There was a higher frequency of cardiovascular diseases among the deceased patients.

Conclusions:

In patients electively operated of abdominal aortic aneurysm, there was a predominance of respiratory and cardiovascular complications, and the latter caused an increase in mortality.

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