The aorta is the main blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart and to the body. An aortic aneurysm is an abnormal bulging and weakening in the aorta.

If an aortic aneurysm is large more than a certain size, growing continuously or causing pain or complications, it needs surgical repair. The aortic valve maybe not healthy, so it may need to be repaired or replaced by a prosthetic valve during the same surgery

The operation may take 5 hours or longer. The surgery is done by a surgical incision in the middle of the chest and the use of the heart-lung machine. The surgeon will remove the affected aorta and replace it with prosthetic substitute called “a graft”, and then check if the aortic valve is affected and if it needs to be repaired or replaced

After surgery, the patient will stay in the hospital according to his condition and his doctor’s decision for few days, which usually about 7 days (few days in the post-operative ICU and the rest is the ward).

The patient is expected to return to his daily activities and resume driving after 6 – 8 weeks after surgery.