In the United States, the number of cases for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair has
remained stable over the last ten years.1
However, the type of repair (endovascular or open)
has dramatically changed, with recent trends moving towards an endovascular approach
rather than an open approach, especially for the elderly.2,3
While there is no long-term
difference in survival between the endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) and open
aneurysm repair (OAR)4
, there are few studies regarding functional outcomes and the
impact on patients after elective surgical intervention. One functional outcome that can be
measured to determine the impact of AAA repair is activities of daily living (ADL). An
individual’s quality of life is intimately linked with independence in ADLs5
and conversely,
ADL impairments are associated with hospital admission,6
death,7
and persistent disability.8
Therefore, the purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to describe ADL scores of nursing
home residents before and after hospitalization for elective AAA and 2) to determine the
effect of procedure type on the ADL scores of residents undergoing open versus
endovascular repair. The specific aim of this study was to determine if procedure type was
associated with either improved or worsening post-hospital trajectories of ADL function.