Blunt Thoracic Aortic Injury and Acute Trauma: The Effect on Aortic Diameter and the Consequences for Stent-graft Sizing

Effects of Timing of Repair on Mortality Following Thoracic Endovascular Aortic Repair for Blunt Thoracic Aortic Injury

BACKGROUND

Blunt thoracic aortic injuries (BTAIs) are traditionally treated as emergencies with most fixed within 24 hours of arrival by thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) regardless of grade of injury. However, the optimal timing of repair remains debated.

METHODS

All patients with Grade 2 and 3 BTAI enrolled in the Aortic Trauma Foundation prospective multicenter registry from 2015 to 2022 were categorized dependent on timing of repair (early repair [ER] < 24 hours, late repair > 24 hours). Chi-square/Fisher's exact tests were used to compare patient/operative factors and logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors related to 30-day mortality.

RESULTS

Two hundred and twenty two Grade 2 and 3 BTAI treated by TEVAR were analyzed, with 179 in the ER group (81%). There was no difference between the groups regarding Injury Severity Score (ISS), Glasgow Coma Scale, age, or gender. Those in ER were more likely to have a widened mediastinum and a shorter distance from the left subclavian artery to the injury. Thirty-day in-hospital mortality occurred in 14 patients (6%), 2 of which were aortic-related. Thirty-day mortality was associated with a higher baseline incidence of coronary artery disease/peripheral vascular disease/previous cardiac revascularization; lower systolic blood pressure, Glasgow Coma Scale, hemoglobin, platelet count, and blood pH; and higher lactate and ISS on arrival. On multivariate regression analysis, lower hemoglobin, higher ISS, and Grade 3 BTAI were associated with 30-day mortality (P < 0.05), although time to TEVAR was not.

CONCLUSIONS

In selected patients, delay in performance of TEVAR for Grade 2 and 3 BTAI may be possible. Further research is necessary to identify other factors predictive of success.

Development and Validation of a Risk Prediction Tool for In-hospital Mortality After Thoracic Endovascular Repair in Patients with Blunt Thoracic Aortic Injury Using the Aortic Trauma Foundation Registry

BACKGROUND

The objective of our present effort was to use an international blunt thoracic aortic injury (BTAI) registry to create a prediction model identifying important preoperative and intraoperative factors associated with postoperative mortality, and to develop and validate a simple risk prediction tool that could assist with patient selection and risk stratification in this patient population.

METHODS

For the purpose of the present study, all patients undergoing thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) for BTAI and registered in the Aortic Trauma Foundation (ATF) database from January 2016 as of June 2022 were identified. Patients undergoing medical management or open repair were excluded. The primary outcome was binary in-hospital all-cause mortality. Two predictive models were generated: a preoperative model (i.e. only including variables before TEVAR or intention-to-treat) and a full model (i.e. also including variables after TEVAR or per-protocol).

RESULTS

Out of a total of 944 cases included in the ATF registry until June 2022, 448 underwent TEVAR and were included in the study population. TEVAR for BTAI was associated with an 8.5% in-hospital all-cause mortality in the ATF dataset. These study subjects were subsequently divided using 3:1 random sampling in a derivation cohort (336; 75.0%) and a validation cohort (112; 25.0%). The median age was 38 years, and the majority of patients were male (350; 78%). A total of 38 variables were included in the final analysis. Of these, 17 variables were considered in the preoperative model, 9 variables were integrated in the full model, and 12 variables were excluded owing to either extremely low variance or strong correlation with other variables. The calibration graphs showed how both models from the ATF dataset tended to underestimate risk, mainly in intermediate-risk cases. The discriminative capacity was moderate in all models; the best performing model was the full model from the ATF dataset, as evident from both the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (Area Under the Curve 0.84; 95% CI 0.74-0.91) and from the density graph.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, we developed and validated a contemporary risk prediction model, which incorporates several preoperative and postoperative variables and is strongly predictive of early mortality. While this model can reasonably predict in-hospital all-cause mortality, thereby assisting physicians with risk-stratification as well as inform patients and their caregivers, its intrinsic limitations must be taken into account and it should only be considered an adjunctive tool that may complement clinical judgment and shared decision-making.

Is Chest X-Ray a Reliable Screening Tool for Blunt Thoracic Aortic Injury? Results from the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma/Aortic Trauma Foundation Prospective Blunt Thoracic Aortic Injury Registry

BACKGROUND

Traditional teaching continues to espouse the value of initial trauma chest x-ray (CXR) as a screening tool for blunt thoracic aortic injury (BTAI). The ability of this modality to yield findings that reliably correlate with grade of injury and need for subsequent treatment, however, requires additional multicenter prospective examination. We hypothesized that CXR is not a reliable screening tool, even at the highest grades of BTAI.

STUDY DESIGN

The Aortic Trauma Foundation/American Association for the Surgery of Trauma prospective BTAI registry was used to correlate initial CXR findings to the Society for Vascular Surgery injury grade identified with computed tomographic angiography.

RESULTS

We analyzed 708 confirmed BTAI injuries with recorded CXR findings and subsequent computed tomographic angiography injury characterization from February 2015 to August 2021. The presence of any of the classic CXR findings was observed in only 57.6% (408 of 708) of injuries, with increasing presence correlating with advanced Society for Vascular Surgery BTAI grade (39.1% [75 of 192] of grade 1; 55.6% [50 of 90] of grade 2; 65.2% [227 of 348] of grade 3; and 71.8% [56 of 78] of grade 4). The most consistent single finding identified was widened mediastinum, but this was only present in 27.7% of all confirmed BTAIs and only 47.4% of G4 injuries (7.8%% of grade 1, 23.3%, of grade 2, 35.3% of grade 3, and 47.4% of grade 4).

CONCLUSIONS

CXR is not a reliable screening tool for the detection of BTAI, even at the highest grades of injury. Further investigations of specific high-risk criteria for screening that incorporate imaging, mechanism, and physiologic findings are warranted.

The clinical characteristics and surgical treatment for delayed blunt thoracic aortic injury-a case series

BACKGROUND

Delayed thoracic aortic injury (DTAI) induced by left closed rib fractures (RFs) is a clinically rare blunt injury to the thoracic aorta with an insidious onset. DTAI is very prone to missed diagnosis due to the unreliability of using the initial post-injury computed tomography (CT) scan to explicitly detect any signs of an aortic injury, potentially leading to a fatal hemorrhage. Timely diagnosis and treatment are therefore key to preventing such deadly complications. With that said, not all cases of left RFs lead to delayed aortic injuries, so how can surgeons tell which cases are to be culled and focused on? Also, what kinds of treatment should be administered upon detection?

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical data of DTAI cases induced by left closed RF that were admitted to our Hospital from June 2015 through June 2020. Injuries to the aortic tunica adventitia or the elastic layer were intraoperatively confirmed. CT scan findings, locations and numbers of RFs, as well as the choices of surgical procedure were reviewed postoperatively. In addition, a literature review was conducted to analyze characteristics shared by similar cases.

RESULTS

This study included 7 patients treated by our hospital and 8 reported in the literature. The broken ends of RFs causing aortic wall injury (including the tunica adventitia) were all found in the medial to the lateral erector spinae. All patients in our hospital received internal fixation for RFs and thoracoscopic removal of free bone fragments (if any). Concomitant injuries were managed either by simultaneous or staged surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

For multiple left RFs with the broken ends located in the inside of the lateral erector spinae, the number of fractured ribs ≥4 and a smaller number of fractured ribs with multiple fractures in a single rib are important factors for DTAI. Active surgical intervention is recommended for patients with these important factors. The specific intervention is tailored to each patient's particular needs to eliminate the risk of developing life-threatening thoracic aortic injury (TAI) and rupture.

Practice of Multidisciplinary Collaborative Chain Management Model in Constructing Nursing Path for Acute Trauma Treatment

Prompt and effective treatment is the key to improve the prognosis of patients with acute trauma, and nursing plays an important role. However, conventional nursing has many limitations. Some studies have pointed out that the multidisciplinary collaborative chain management model can optimize the emergency procedures, ensure the continuity of the emergency treatment process, and optimize the treatment details. This study analyzed the practice of constructing an acute trauma care pathway based on a multidisciplinary collaborative chain management model. The results showed that the application of the multidisciplinary collaborative chain management model in the construction of acute trauma treatment nursing paths can enhance the emergency efficiency and nursing treatment, prevent the occurrence of adverse events, and improve the prognosis of patients.