PPJJournal of Perioperative Practice1750-45892515-7949SAGE PublicationsSage UK: London, England10.1177/175045892095401410.1177_1750458920954014ReviewAbdominal aortic aneurysms part one: Epidemiology, presentation and preoperative considerationshttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8208-8194HellawellHolly N1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8934-2186MostafaAhmed M H A M1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0767-9004KyriacouHarry1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6248-8572SumalAnoop S1BoyleJonathan R2University of Cambridge, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UKCambridge University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge Vascular Unit, Cambridge, UK

Joint first co-authors.

Ahmed MHAM Mostafa, University of Cambridge, School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, UK. Email: ahmed.mostafa@addenbrookes.nhs.uk
2892020317-8274280© The Author(s) 20202020Association for Perioperative Practicehttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is an irreversible dilatation of the abdominal aorta. The majority of abdominal aortic aneurysms are asymptomatic and identified incidentally while investigating a separate pathology. Others are detected by national screening programmes and some present due to a growth or rupture. Symptomatic or ruptured aneurysms require urgent or emergency repair in patients fit for surgery. Perioperative practitioners should therefore be aware of how patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms present and are investigated, so that they can implement timely management. Guidelines have been recently updated to reflect this. This literature review discusses these recommendations and explores the evidence upon which they are based. The aim of this article is to highlight the important preoperative principles that need to be considered in cases of abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Abdominal aortic aneurysmCardiovascular diseasePreoperative periodVascular surgeryScreeningcover-dateJuly-August 2021typesetterts2