Between January 1976 and December 1982, 181 patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms were treated surgically, and in 13 patients the aneurysms were found to be inflammatory. Inflammatory aneurysms of the abdominal aorta (IAAA) share important characteristics with typical atherosclerotic abdominal aortic aneurysms. Diagnosis and surgical management of IAAA are distinctive which suggests that IAAA should be considered separately, as a varient of typical abdominal aortic aneurysms. IAAA occur predominantly in males. The presenting symptoms are often idiosyncratic and include severe abdominal or back pain, or both, and ureteral obstruction; the diagnosis of IAAA should be considered when these symptoms are present. Although grossly and microscopically, the perianeurysmal fibrosis resembles idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis, the two conditions can be differentiated. At the present time, ultrasonography and computed tomography appear to offer reliable means for diagnosing IAAA. The presence of IAAA, whether established preoperatively or discovered unexpectedly at operation, necessitate certain modifications in the surgical approach, in order to avoid injuring the duodenum and the venous structures. Most patients can be successfully treated by resection and graft replacement. Rupture of the aneurysm in IAAA appears to be less frequent than in typical atherosclerotic abdominal aortic aneurysm.