Lourdes Performs Area’s First Bilateral
Branch Iliac Graft Endovascular Procedure
Most people would be happy if they started losing weight without trying. But for 57-year-old
Alan Borders it was cause for alarm.
“I thought something is not right,” says Borders. “My primary care doctor sent me to see
Mercy Vascular Surgeon, Dr. Sara Cederstrand. She told me I had three aneurysms that
needed to be repaired immediately.”
Alan had a large aneurysm in his abdominal aorta, which is the main blood vessel that
brings blood from the heart to the legs. To further complicate things, he also had aneurysms
in the large arteries in the pelvis, called the iliac arteries. Iliac aneurysms can burst, which
can cause life-threatening, uncontrolled bleeding. This poses a special challenge for repair,
which up until now required open surgery with difficult and long recovery time.
“Mr. Borders is the first person in our area to have this minimally invasive procedure,” states
Dr. Sara Cederstrand, Mercy Vascular Surgeon. “We are now able to perform both types of
aneurysm repair at one time, through small incisions in the groin. The rest of the procedure
is done with new, specialized endografts, which are basically stents covered with fluid
resistant material. We use a standard aortic endograft, and also the new branched iliac
artery endografts. This procedure, although technically challenging, has dramatically
improved the way we can treat this problem of both aortic and iliac artery aneurysms.”
“Dr. Cederstrand explained with the old
procedure I would be in the hospital for
7 to 10 days and be down for about a
month or the new procedure would
require an overnight stay and light duty
for a week,” says Borders. “I had no
hesitation going with the new procedure.”
“For Mr. Borders, this was such a blessing
because he is the sole caretaker for his
wife at home,” adds Dr. Cederstrand.
“With the minimally invasive new surgery,
Mr. Borders was able to go home the next
morning. We are so pleased that we
could offer this option to him.”
A Catholic healthcare ministry serving Kentucky and Ohio