Sex-specific differences in AAA comorbid status (SAACS)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Investigation into sex-specific differences in mortality and complications following elective abdominal aortic aneurysm repair and association with pre-operative co-morbid status.
IRAS ID
293055
Contact name
Anna Louise Pouncey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 9 months, 1 days
Research summary
An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a swelling in part of the main vessel supplying blood to the lower body. AAAs can burst, or ‘rupture’, which can be fatal. To prevent this, AAAs can be repaired, using open surgery (cutting open the abdomen,) or endovascular surgery (relining the vessel from inside). Worldwide, women are more likely than men to die and to suffer complications from elective AAA repair. The reason for this is unknown. Guidance for AAA treatment has been based on what works for men. However, with this strategy, women experience worse results, which suggests that women might benefit from a different care pathway.
It may be the case that women have more medical issues prior to their operation or do not receive the same pre-operative investigations which negatively affects their operative outcome. This project will use national data sets collected in the UK on men and women who have under gone elective AAA repair to compare the differences in health status and investigations pre-operatively, and outcomes following repair. This should help us to identify whether there are key differences which we need to look at in more detail and consider changing in our care pathways for AAA repair.
REC name
London - Hampstead Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/LO/0031
Date of REC Opinion
16 Jan 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion