A system for open surgical repair of a body vessel is described herein. A retention sleeve receives an expandable prosthesis. The sleeve has a delivery and a deployed configuration. In the delivery configuration, the sleeve has at least one overlapped region and the sleeve is sized to retain the prosthesis in a compressed configuration for insertion of ends of the prosthesis into the vessel. In the deployed configuration, the sleeve is moves to a larger cross-sectional area to allow for expansion of the ends of the prosthesis for engagement with the vessel. One or more releasable members are extendable through the overlapped region to retain the sleeve in the delivery configuration. The releasable member is removable from the overlapped region, preferably from the center of the prosthesis, to permit the sleeve to move to the deployed configuration and expansion of the outer ends prior to the center of the prosthesis.
