Overview

Quick reference

Summary

Endovascular repair excludes an aneurysm selected for treatment, ruptured or not, from the circulation. The options are coiling, alone or with balloon-assisted (BAC) or stent-assisted coiling (SAC) for a wide neck; a flow diverter (FD), which reconstructs the parent artery so that the sac thromboses over months; and intrasaccular flow disruption, chiefly the Woven EndoBridge (WEB) at wide-necked bifurcations. Planning judges complexity from dome-to-neck ratio, branch involvement and size, then sizes the device. Device choice follows neck morphology and rupture status on largely observational evidence. After aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH), coiling remains the standard: the joint European guideline finds no high-quality evidence that other devices improve outcome, and a stent or FD requires dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), whose regimens rest on low-certainty evidence.

Takeaways

  1. 1

    Choose the device from neck morphology and rupture status; settle DAPT before committing to SAC or a flow diverter.

  2. 2

    Prepare rescue before starting: balloon tamponade for intraprocedural rupture, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition for thrombus, stentectomy as bailout.

  3. 3

    Grade occlusion on the device-specific scale, and plan imaging follow-up for recurrence after coiling.

Start here

  1. Comprehensive review of the recent advances in devices for endovascular treatment of complex brain aneurysms.Fatania 2022 · Br J Radiol
  2. Complex intracranial aneurysms: a DELPHI study to define associated characteristics.Diana 2024 · Acta Neurochir (Wien)
  3. Comparison between Woven EndoBridge and coiling with and without stent assistance for intracranial bifurcation and wide-neck aneurysms: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.Maroufi 2024 · J Neurosurg
  4. Intra-procedural re-rupture during endovascular coiling of ruptured intracranial aneurysms: a systematic review.Ismail 2026 · Neuroradiology
  5. An update to the Raymond-Roy Occlusion Classification of intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization.Mascitelli 2015 · J Neurointerv Surg
  6. Efficacy and safety of flow diverter therapy for unruptured intracranial aneurysms compared to conventional endovascular therapy: a multicentre, randomised, open-label trial in South Korea.Kim 2026 · EClinicalMedicine · pivotal
  7. Long-term angiographic recurrences after selective endovascular treatment of aneurysms with detachable coils.Raymond 2003 · Stroke · landmark
Back to overviewIntracranial aneurysmsWhat intracranial aneurysms are, how they form and are imaged, who treats them, and which page to read.
See alsoAnterior choroidal artery · in preparationBasilar perforators · in preparationLenticulostriate arteries · in preparationIschaemic stroke · in preparationBrain arteriovenous malformations · in preparationIntracranial & carotid atherosclerotic disease · in preparation

Endovascular aneurysm treatment: devices and techniques

Healthcare professionals · Updated 30 Oct 2026 · G. Kalarakis

Intracranial aneurysmsChapter 4 of 4
Quick reference

Summary

Endovascular repair excludes an aneurysm selected for treatment, ruptured or not, from the circulation. The options are coiling, alone or with balloon-assisted (BAC) or stent-assisted coiling (SAC) for a wide neck; a flow diverter (FD), which reconstructs the parent artery so that the sac thromboses over months; and intrasaccular flow disruption, chiefly the Woven EndoBridge (WEB) at wide-necked bifurcations. Planning judges complexity from dome-to-neck ratio, branch involvement and size, then sizes the device. Device choice follows neck morphology and rupture status on largely observational evidence. After aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (aSAH), coiling remains the standard: the joint European guideline finds no high-quality evidence that other devices improve outcome, and a stent or FD requires dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT), whose regimens rest on low-certainty evidence.

Takeaways

  1. 1

    Choose the device from neck morphology and rupture status; settle DAPT before committing to SAC or a flow diverter.

  2. 2

    Prepare rescue before starting: balloon tamponade for intraprocedural rupture, glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibition for thrombus, stentectomy as bailout.

  3. 3

    Grade occlusion on the device-specific scale, and plan imaging follow-up for recurrence after coiling.

Start here

  1. Comprehensive review of the recent advances in devices for endovascular treatment of complex brain aneurysms.Fatania 2022 · Br J Radiol
  2. Complex intracranial aneurysms: a DELPHI study to define associated characteristics.Diana 2024 · Acta Neurochir (Wien)
  3. Comparison between Woven EndoBridge and coiling with and without stent assistance for intracranial bifurcation and wide-neck aneurysms: a comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis.Maroufi 2024 · J Neurosurg
  4. Intra-procedural re-rupture during endovascular coiling of ruptured intracranial aneurysms: a systematic review.Ismail 2026 · Neuroradiology
  5. An update to the Raymond-Roy Occlusion Classification of intracranial aneurysms treated with coil embolization.Mascitelli 2015 · J Neurointerv Surg
  6. Efficacy and safety of flow diverter therapy for unruptured intracranial aneurysms compared to conventional endovascular therapy: a multicentre, randomised, open-label trial in South Korea.Kim 2026 · EClinicalMedicine · pivotal
  7. Long-term angiographic recurrences after selective endovascular treatment of aneurysms with detachable coils.Raymond 2003 · Stroke · landmark

Back to overviewIntracranial aneurysmsWhat intracranial aneurysms are, how they form and are imaged, who treats them, and which page to read.
See alsoAnterior choroidal artery · in preparationBasilar perforators · in preparationLenticulostriate arteries · in preparationIschaemic stroke · in preparationBrain arteriovenous malformations · in preparationIntracranial & carotid atherosclerotic disease · in preparation