Statin therapy can boost survival rates in patients undergoing repair of abdominal aortic aneurysms, according to an article in the August issue of Journal of Vascular Surgery. Researchers studied patients without documented statin intolerance undergoing AAA repair in the Vascular Quality Initiative between 2003 and 2017. The researchers concluded, “Preoperative statin therapy is associated with higher long-term survival but not perioperative mortality and morbidity in patients undergoing AAA repair, and initiating statin therapy in previously statin-naive patients is associated with markedly higher survival.”
AAA patients who are statin-tolerant should receive statin therapy and those patients not taking a statin at the time of surgery should be considered for such therapy before discharge. The article is open source through Sept. 30. Visit vsweb.org/ JVS-Statins.