Aortic surgery and laparoscopy: still a future in the endovascular surgery era?

Laparoscopic surgery (LS) is the minimally invasive alternative to open surgery and endovascular approach for treating major aortic diseases. Only few reports in the literature describe the long-term outcomes of the laparoscopic approach for major vascular diseases. Furthermore, the widespread use of endovascular techniques has limited the use of LS to wellselected patients. This review evaluated the results of LS for aortic disease and compared the clinical outcomes of laparoscopic technique with those of open and endovascular surgery. A systematic review was performed by using the MEDLINE database, along with a meta-analysis of the reported studies on the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and/or aorto-iliac occlusive disease (AIOD). Forty-three studies were analyzed (17 for AAA and 26 for AIOD), with a total of 1197 patients with AAA and 1307 patients with AIOD. Laparoscopic surgery, when performed in experienced centers, is a feasible and safe technique for the treatment of AAA and AIOD in patients unfit for open and endovascular repair. Assisted laparoscopic approach has shown better outcomes than totally laparoscopic repair, with a lower rate of mortality and morbidity. Endovascular repair, however, remains the gold standard in the treatment of AAA.