Surgical Treatment for Branched Endograft Thrombosis of the Abdominal Aorta

Abstract

Introduction. Endovascular intervention was firstly introduced for repairing aortic aneurysms in the early 1990s. The greatest advantage of endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is its minimally-invasive character, thus implying shorter post-operative period. The operative mortality rate comprises 3.3 % (95 % CI 2.9–3.6); however, according to recent studies, the rate has declined to 1.4 % due to a rapid improvement in outcomes. According to the DREAM-trial, the incidence of a branched endograft thrombosis accounts for 6.4% within the first 30 days. The EVAR trial reports an incidence of 2.6% after the first year of follow-up. Stent bending and small distal aortic diameters (less than 20 mm) are believed to be the most common causes of endograft thrombosis.Aim. To identify the causes of complications following the abdominal aortic stent-graft repair and to determine the optimal treatment strategy.Materials and methods. The paper presents a case of 71-year-old patient with late complication after endovascular abdominal aortic repair of an infrarenal aortic aneurysm. The patient was admitted to the hospital on January 05, 2020 as an emergency due to the pain in the left lower limb. On December 03, 2019 the patient underwent endovascular abdominal aortic repair. Angiography of January 06, 2020 revealed thrombosis of the left branch of the stent graft. Thrombectomy of the brunched left stent graft, left iliac artery and balloon dilatation of the brunched left stent-graft were performed.Results and discussion. Endovascular abdominal aortic repair stands as the first choice for patients with appropriate aortic anatomy and those with significant comorbidity. Despite the significant progress in endovascular abdominal aortic repairing, the EVAR procedure is followed by a nearly fivefold increase in the 30-day reintervention rate as compared to open surgery which comprises 9.8 % according to the EVAR-I, and 18 %, according to the EVAR-II trials.Conclusion. Our multidisciplinary team consisted of vascular and endovascular surgeons managed to perform hybrid surgery, thus eliminating the EVAR-associated complication together with its cause.