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  Vol. 141 No. 2, February 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Dramatic Shift in the Primary Management of Traumatic Thoracic Aortic Rupture

Darren R. Lebl, MD; Rochelle A. Dicker, MD; David A. Spain, MD; Susan I. Brundage, MD, MPH

Arch Surg. 2006;141:177-180.

Hypothesis  Traumatic thoracic aortic injury (TAI) is traditionally treated with immediate surgery. Previously published studies have established the safety and efficacy of treating TAI with endovascular stents. Our hypothesis was that stents are supplanting operative repair as the primary therapy for TAI.

Design  Retrospective cohort.

Setting  University level I trauma center.

Patients and Methods  Blunt trauma patients admitted to a level I trauma center diagnosed with TAI between September 1997 and November 2003 were identified from an institutional trauma registry (N = 25). Data were abstracted from medical records and analyzed. Three groups were defined: surgical repair (cardiopulmonary bypass or clamp and sew) (n = 10); medical management (n = 8); and endovascular stent (n = 7).

Results  Prior to 2002, 9 (75%) of 12 patients were treated by surgical repair, 2 (17%) by medical management, and 1 (8%) by endovascular stent. Since 2002, 1 patient (8%) was treated by surgical repair, 6 (46%) by medical management, and 6 (46%) by endovascular stent. Injury Severity Scores were comparable between the surgical cohort (mean ± SEM score, 34.9 ± 3.4), stent placement (35.1 ± 3.7), and medical management (29.9 ± 2.8) (P = .48). Overall survival was 80% with no differences in morbidity or mortality. The stented group had shorter hospital lengths of stay compared with surgical management (28 vs 46 days) (P<.05). The 1 operative case since 2002 was a combined arch/innominate injury that anatomically precluded stent placement.

Conclusion  Initial reports suggested thoracic aortic stents as an alternative for injured patients with prohibitive operative risks. Our data suggest stent placement is quickly evolving into the primary therapy for TAI across all Injury Severity Score profiles.


Author Affiliations: Division of Trauma, Emergency Surgery and Surgical Critical Care, Department of Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, Calif (Drs Lebl, Dicker, Spain, and Brundage).



THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Endovascular stenting for traumatic aortic injury: an emerging new standard of care.
Moainie et al.
Ann. Thorac. Surg. 2008;85:1625-1629.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Thoracic aorta emergencies: is the endovascular treatment the new gold standard?
Ferrari et al.
ICVTS 2006;5:730-734.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  





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