Surgical Treatment of Traumatic Aortic Rupture

Son, Kuk Hui; Kim, Joung Taek; Kim, Hyun Tae; Sun, Kyoung; Yoon, Yong Han; Kim, Kwang Ho; Baek, Wan Ki

Abstract

PURPOSE
The thoracic aortic rupture due to a blunt thoracic trauma is a fatal condition and majority of affected patients die before arriving at the hospital. The purpose of this study was to report our experiences of the traumatic thoracic aortic rupture. METHOD: Between January 1998 and September 2002, 6 patients with traumatic aortic rupture were experienced at out institute. All the patients had been involved in a traffic accident. There were 5 males and a female with mean age 29.8+/-7.0 years, ranging from 18 to 36 years. Preoperative chest CT and aortography confirmed the thoracic aortic rupture around the aortic isthmus in all patients. One patient died while waiting for an operation. The records of the remaining 5 patients that undergone an urgent operation were retrospectively reviewed. RESULT: There was no operative mortality. The mean aortic cross clamp time was 67.6+/-14.7 minutes. The injured portion of the thoracic aorta was just below the aortic isthmus in all cases which was resected and replaced with an artificial vascular graft. Various kinds of distal perfusion technique were employed: left atrial to femoral artery bypass in 3, Gott's shunt in 1, and femoro-femoral bypass with hypothermic circulatory arrest also in 1 patient. No signs of spinal cord injury developed postoperatively. All patients are in good clinical condition for 4 to 47 months postoperatively.
CONCLUSION
Favorable outcomes could be anticipated in patients with a descending aortic rupture due to blunt thoracic trauma, if prompt diagnostic work up and surgical treatment are applied. The surgical results are thought to be improved with the employment of the distal perfusion technique, thus avoiding distal ischemia.