Blunt Trauma to Thoracic Aorta Best Treated with Endovascular Repair
A new study published in the Journal of Vascular and Interventional Radiology suggests that endovascular repair may be the ideal approach to treat patients who experienced blunt trauma to the thoracic aorta. A team from Dartmouth assessed studies that compared the endovascular approach to traditional surgery.
Almost twenty different studies were examined by the team during the systematic review. Data from more than 630 patients was examined; 376 patients were treated with open surgery and the remainder underwent endovascular repair. Notably, there were no randomized, prospective studies for evaluation.
Benefits of treatment with the endovascular approach include a decreased risk of complications. Paraplegia is a significant concern during surgery. That can occur when the aorta is clamped, resulting from insufficient blood to the spine.
Endovascular surgery is also associated with a significant decrease in mortality, dropping from an average of 60 to 30 percent when compared to intensive care and surgical treatment methods. The addition of stenting diminished mortality by another ten percent.
Odds ratios comparing the two methods further validated these conclusions. For mortality and risk of paraplegia, the odds ratio was statistically significant. As suc, the team recommends endovascular repair to treat the majority of these cases.
August 20, 2008 Related topics: Surgery, Radiology, Cardiology