DEFINITION AND MANAGEMENT OF ABDOMINAL AORTIC-ANEURYSMS - RESULTS FROM A CANADIAN SURVEY

Objective. To assess how vascular surgeons define and manage asymptoma tic abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) 5.4 cm in diameter or smaller. D esign: Descriptive survey. Setting. All provinces and territories of C anada. Participants: One hundred and ninety-one vascular surgeons. Int erventions: A 12-item questionnaire sent in two mailings to all vascul ar surgeons who were members of the Canadian Society for Vascular Surg ery. Main Outcome Measures: Definition and routine management of asymp tomatic AAAs, assessment of aneurysm size before elective surgery and basic personal data. Results: One hundred and sixty-seven (87%) vascul ar surgeons responded to the mailings; 149 (78%) completed the questio nnaire. The majority of respondents were experienced (78%), academic ( 70%) vascular surgeons. AAAs were defined in any one of four ways. The re was notable consistency regarding the size range in which vascular surgeons seriously considered elective surgical repair of small aneury sms. Conclusion: Standards need to be developed to define what constit utes a small AAA if meaningful research on small aneurysms is to be co nducted.