A femoral artery aneurysm is a stretched-out part of a blood vessel in your thigh. The weak artery wall is at risk of breaking open and causing a lot of blood loss. A surgical repair of this rare condition prevents a femoral aneurysm from rupturing. This operation usually has a good outcome.
A femoral artery aneurysm is a part of an artery in your thigh that stretches out or bulges to about twice its normal size. When this happens, all the layers of your artery wall stretch out too much. This weakens the artery wall, making it likely to tear. If it tears, you can lose a lot of blood from this major artery.
Healthcare providers refer to femoral artery aneurysms by their location. The two types are:
People who get femoral aneurysms are most often men and people assigned male at birth (AMAB). Also, they’re usually older than age 70. You’re more likely to get a femoral artery aneurysm if you have these risk factors:
Femoral artery aneurysms are rare, but you can have them in both of your legs. Some people have an aneurysm in their femoral artery and another artery at the same time. Aneurysms in blood vessels in your legs affect .007% of men and people assigned male at birth. The percentage is even lower for women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB).
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If you have a femoral artery aneurysm, it’s possible to have a blood clot that stays in your artery or travels to a different blood vessel. Also, an aneurysm can break open and cause a lot of bleeding (rupture).
Femoral artery aneurysm symptoms may include:
However, up to 40% of people with a femoral aneurysm don’t have any symptoms.
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Femoral artery aneurysm causes may include:
These causes can weaken your femoral artery wall and lead to an aneurysm.
Your healthcare provider may be able to feel a femoral artery aneurysm during a physical exam. However, the bulge in your groin can look and feel like a hernia. Tests can help them figure out what it is.
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Tests to diagnose a femoral artery aneurysm and plan treatment for it include:
Because the risk of a femoral artery aneurysm breaking open is low (1% to 14%), you may not need surgery. However, you may need surgery to repair your femoral artery aneurysm if:
To repair your femoral artery, a surgeon will do open surgery. That means they have to cut through your skin to see and work on the artery instead of making small incisions and using a camera to see inside. They cut out the aneurysm and replace it with a fabric graft.
You can think of it like a fire hose that got stretched in one section and is at risk of bursting from the water pressure. You’d need to patch that weak area to strengthen it so the water could keep flowing normally.
Surgery to repair a femoral aneurysm can lead to:
You’ll need to spend three to 10 days in the hospital after your surgery. It may take a month or more to make a complete recovery.
Since atherosclerosis is a major cause of femoral artery aneurysms, you can reduce your risk by managing your cholesterol and controlling your blood pressure. Exercising regularly and eating a low-fat diet may be all you need for this. However, many people need to take a cholesterol-lowering drug.
A femoral artery aneurysm won’t go away without treatment. A healthcare provider can keep checking it to see if it’s getting larger and requires treatment.
Aneurysm repairs usually have good results, with mortality rates of 1% to 5% around the time of surgery. Five years after surgery, about 85% of repaired blood vessels stay open. This means blood can flow through easily.
A healthcare provider will need to check your arteries regularly for the rest of your life. Regular checks help them find any new aneurysms before they’re large enough to be at risk of breaking open. Because smoking makes aneurysms grow, your provider will recommend stopping the use of tobacco products.
Get medical treatment right away if your leg or foot is:
Questions you may want to ask your provider include:
Pseudoaneurysms (“false aneurysms”) are more common than femoral artery aneurysms. A pseudoaneurysm can happen after a procedure to diagnose or treat an issue with your artery. Unlike a true aneurysm, a pseudoaneurysm doesn’t affect all of your artery’s layers.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Having an aneurysm in your femoral artery is very rare. However, if you have one, you can get a surgical repair before the aneurysm breaks or ruptures. Because this type of aneurysm isn’t common, it may give you peace of mind to find a provider who has a lot of experience with these surgeries.
Last reviewed on 11/18/2022.
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Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic medical center. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. Policy