GAINESVILLE - Now patients who need aortic repair due to an aneurysm can benefit from a new technology offered at Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC).
NGMC is the first -- and only -- hospital in Georgia certified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use a new technology, percutaneous endovascular aneurysm repair (PEVAR). PEVAR patients typically have an easier recovery, a lower risk of infection, experience far less pain and use less narcotics after going home.
The first and only physician in Georgia certified to perform the PEVAR procedure is Thomas A. Abbruzzese, MD, a vascular surgeon with Northeast Georgia Physicians Group Surgical Associates Vascular Center.
"Traditional endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) patients usually take a week to 10 days to get back to normal activities," says Dr. Abbruzzese. "Our PEVAR patients typically walk around the hospital hallways just hours after the procedure. Their quality of life returns almost immediately."
An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a bulge in the aorta, which is the primary blood vessel that transports blood from the heart to the rest of the body. This kind of aneurysm typically requires repair when the risk of rupture is great, there is a rapid change in its size or the patient is experiencing pain.
Open surgical repair was used to treat these types of aneurysms until a less invasive alternative, EVAR, was developed in the 1990's. With EVAR, the femoral arteries are accessed through incisions on the top of each leg instead of an open procedure on the heart. NGMC's PEVAR procedure is even less invasive than EVAR, requiring just a ¾-inch incision on one leg and a smaller incision on the other leg.
"Dr. Abbruzzese's groundbreaking work with the PEVAR procedure is yet another achievement that demonstrates why Northeast Georgia Medical Center continues to be a national destination for heart and vascular services," says Carol Burrell, president and CEO of Northeast Georgia Health System.
Saturday
July 12th, 2025
6:30AM
