What are the treatment options for Aneurysms?

Many small brain and aortic aneurysms pose little risk to your health and are best left untreated. In these cases, the risk of surgery can outweigh the risk of rupture. If you choose this approach, your doctor will monitor your aneurysm with periodic ultrasounds, usually every six to 12 months and encourage you to report immediately if you start having abdominal tenderness or back pain.

Treatment options for ruptured and unruptured Brain Aneurysms include:

Microvascular clipping - Under general anesthesia, the neurosurgeon removes a section of your skull to access the aneurysm and locates the blood vessel that feeds the aneurysm. Then the surgeon places a tiny metal clip on the neck of the aneurysm to stop blood flow to it. This is the option of choice with a large or more complicated aneurysm.

Endovascular embolization - Under general anethesia, the doctor inserts a hollow plastic tube (catheter) into an artery, usually in your groin, and threads it through your body to the aneurysm. The surgeon then uses a guide wire to push a spiral of soft platinum wire through the catheter and into the aneurysm. The wire coils up inside the aneurysm, blocking the blood flow and causing the blood to clot. This is a less invasive alternative to surgical clipping and has a quicker recovery time.

Treatment options for unruptured Aortic Aneurysms include:

Synthetic Tube Graft - Open-abdominal or open-chest surgery to repair aortic aneurysms involves removing the damaged section of the aorta and replacing it with a synthetic tube sewn into place. This treatment takes several months to recover from.

Endovascular Surgery - A less invasive procedure, during which the synthetic graft is threaded through your artery via a catheter and fastened into place with small hooks or pins. Recovery time is only one to two weeks.

Although it's possible to repair a ruptured aortic aneurysm with emergency surgery, the risk is much higher and there is less chance of survival. Many people who experience a ruptured aortic aneurysm die before they reach the hospital.  

Medications can be prescribed to relieve signs and symptoms of aneurysms. For example, anticonvulsant medications can prevent seizures, analgesics may relieve headache symptoms, and calcium channel blockers can help widen narrowed blood vessels.