Self expandable stent application to prevent limb occlusion in external iliac artery during endovascular aneurysm repair

PURPOSE Iliac extension of stent-graft during endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) increases the incidence of limb occlusion (LO). Hypothetically, adjunctive iliac stent (AIS) could offer some additional protection to overcome this anatomic hostility. But still there is no consensus in terms of effective stent characteristics or configuration. We retrospectively reviewed our center's experience to offer a possible answer to this question. METHODS Our study included 30 patients (38 limbs) with AIS placed in the external iliac artery (EIA) from January 2010 to December 2013. We classified iliac tortuosity based on anatomic characteristics. AIS's were deployed in EIA with a minimum 5-mm stick-out configuration from the distal edge of the stent-graft. RESULTS According to the iliac artery tortuosity index, grade 0, grade 1, and grade 2 were 5 (13.2%), 30 (78.9%), and 3 (7.9%), respectively. The diameter of all AIS was 12 mm, which was as large as or larger than the diameter of the stent-graft distal limb. SMART stents were preferred in 34 limbs (89.5%) and stents with 60-mm length were usually used (89.5%). During a mean follow-up of 9.13 ± 10.78 months, ischemic limb pain, which could be the sign of LO, was not noticed in any patients. There was no fracture, kinking, migration, in-stent restenosis, or occlusion of AIS. CONCLUSION The installation of AIS after extension of stent-graft to EIA reduced the risk of LO without any complications. AIS should be considered as a preventive procedure of LO if stent-graft needs to be extended to EIA during EVAR.