EVAAR-UK Results
Endovascular versus Open Aortic Repair in Patients Fit for Both Procedures: Five-Year Results of the EVAAR-UK Randomised Controlled Trial
European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery — May 2026
Key Finding
Both keyhole and open surgery for aortic aneurysm gave equally good results after 5 years, with no difference in survival between the two approaches.
What This Means For You
This is reassuring news for patients. It means that whichever type of surgery you have for an aortic aneurysm, your chances of a good long-term outcome are the same. If you had keyhole surgery, you may have recovered faster in the early weeks, but over 5 years there was no overall advantage of one approach over the other.
Detailed Summary
The trial followed 280 patients for 5 years after their surgery. Survival rates were very similar — about 88% of patients in both groups were alive at 5 years. Patients who had keyhole surgery went home from hospital sooner (about 4 days compared to 9 days for open surgery) and felt better in the first month. However, the keyhole group were more likely to need a further small procedure later on to maintain their repair (about 1 in 5 patients, compared to 1 in 10 for open surgery). Quality of life was the same in both groups from 6 months onwards. Both types of surgery were safe, with serious complications being uncommon in both groups.
Next Steps
These results will help surgeons and patients make more informed decisions about which type of surgery is best for their individual situation. The research team will continue to follow up participants for 10 years to see if these findings hold in the longer term.