An empirical study of nursing in patients undergoing two different procedures for abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

Specialized vascular nursing has to meet the challenge presented through progress and modern developments in vascular surgery. Endovascular techniques are becoming more widespread and are now available for diseases that previously have required extensive surgery. A comparative study was carried out in two groups of patients with infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (N = 50), either by means of the traditional open surgical approach or by the new endovascular stented graft technology. Four problems were compared in both groups of patients: (1) length of hospital stay, (2) dependency on nursing, (3) patient mobility after surgery, and (4) analgesic requirements. Data were obtained from a designated data sheet. Analysis of the data obtained helped us in our service to optimize the nursing process for patients undergoing major aortic surgery for open, as well as endovascular, procedures, especially regarding the nursing anamnesis and nursing diagnosis.