Advances in the treatment of blunt thoracic aortic injuries

Endovascular stenting of blunt aortic isthmus rupture in a 5-year-old child

Blunt traumatic aortic tear is an extremely rare and life-threatening paediatric emergency. Percutaneous repair is highly debateable in children due to anatomic limitations. Herein, we report an important case of a 5-year-old boy diagnosed with grade 3 aortic isthmus disruption following fifth-floor defenestration. The 96-h control computerized tomography (CT) scan showed an increase in the pseudoaneurysm size with small active bleeding motivating endovascular covered stenting that was safely and efficiently performed with good outcomes.

Open stent graft repair with upper-half Sternotomy for blunt thoracic aortic injury: a case report

Background

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair is now widely applied to the treatment of blunt aortic injury. However, its long-term outcomes remain unclear. Endoleakage and migration might occur in the long term, especially when younger patients undergo endovascular aortic repair. In open stent grafting, the proximal end of the open stent graft is directly sutured to the native aorta, which may reduce the risk of endoleakage and migration. We applied open stent grafting to the treatment of blunt aortic injury in the subacute phase and herein report the patient’s clinical course.

Case Presentation

A 20-year-old man with a developmental disorder collided with a steel tower while skiing. He was transferred to our hospital by helicopter. X-ray examination and computed tomography revealed fractures of left humeral head and femoral neck and aortic isthmus dissection. We did not perform an acute-phase operation because of the presence of multiple trauma and instead performed open stent grafting with an upper-half sternotomy 42 days after the injury. He recovered uneventfully without psychological problems other than his preexisting developmental disorder. No endoleakage or aneurysm was observed during an 18-month follow-up period.

Conclusions

Open stent grafting might be an alternative to open surgery and thoracic endovascular aortic repair for blunt chest trauma, although intensive follow-up is needed.

Core curriculum case illustration: blunt traumatic thoracic aortic pseudo aneurysm

Core Curriculum Illustration: [blunt thoracic aortic pseudo aneurysm]. This is the [40th] installment of a series that will highlight one case per publication issue from the bank of cases available online as part of the American Society of Emergency Radiology (ASER) educational resources. Our goal is to generate more interest in and use of our online materials. To view more cases online, please visit the ASER Core Curriculum and Recommendations for Study online at: http://www.aseronline.org/curriculum/toc.html.

Hybrid treatment combining emergency surgery and intraoperative interventional radiology for severe trauma

OBJECT

To evaluate the efficacy of hybrid treatment combining emergency surgery and intraoperative interventional radiology (IVR) for severe trauma.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

The records of 63 severely injured patients who underwent concurrent emergency surgery and IVR at our emergency centre from 1999 through 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. Mobile digital subtraction angiography device was used in the operating room when performing IVR. Patients undergoing hybrid treatment combining intraoperative IVR and emergency surgery (intraoperative IVR group) were compared with those undergoing IVR in the angiography suite before or after emergency surgery (control group).

RESULTS

Thirteen patients underwent hybrid treatment (intraoperative IVR group). Of these 13 patients, 7 underwent treatment for abdominal organ injuries, and 6 for multiregional injuries. Emergency operations were laparotomy (n=12), thoracotomy (n=1), craniotomy (n=1), and haemostasis of the lower extremities (n=1). Five patients underwent damage control surgery. IVR included transarterial embolisation (n=12), endovascular stent or stent-graft placement (n=2), and embolisation of a portal vein by laparotomy (n=2). The mean ISS was 40. The actual overall survival rate was 85%, and the probability of survival (Ps) was 62%. The control group included 45 patients. Five patients who met exclusion criteria were not included in the control group. Age, ISS, RTS, Ps, pH and base excess on arrival, and blood transfusion volume during operation and IVR did not differ significantly between the groups. Total time during operation and IVR was significantly shorter in the intraoperative IVR group than in the control group (229 [SD 72]min vs. 355 [SD 169]min; p=0.007). The mortality were 15 (95% CI 2-45) % in the intraoperative IVR group vs. 36 (95% CI 22-51) % in the control group.

CONCLUSION

Hybrid treatment combining emergency surgery and intraoperative IVR can be a novel treatment strategy for severe trauma, and it will improve patient outcomes due to reduction of the time for resuscitation.