Purpose: Most blunt thoracic aortic injuries (BTAIs) may be treated using thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR), and most blunt abdominal traumas (BATs) are managed conservatively. We hypothesized that severe trauma that needs TEVAR may increase the risk of delayed intra-abdominal hemorrhage in patients with concomitant BTAI and BAT because of the potential hemorrhagic shock, disseminated intravascular coagulopathy, blood loss, consequent need for blood transfusion, and procedure-associated heparinization.
Materials and methods: From 2015 to 2019, blunt trauma patients with concomitant severe chest trauma and abdominal trauma who could be managed conservatively were studied. The probability of delayed intra-abdominal hemorrhage was compared between patients with concomitant BTAI who received or did not undergo TEVAR. Propensity score matching (PSM), inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), and multivariate logistic regression (MLR) were used to eliminate discrepancies between these 2 groups.
Results: Among the 341 studied patients, there were 26 patients with BTAI, and 19 of them underwent TEVAR. Delayed intra-abdominal hemorrhage was observed in 4 patients (21.1%, 4/19) who underwent TEVAR. Both PSM and IPTW showed that patients who underwent TEVAR for concomitant BTAI had a greater delayed need for blood transfusions and a larger proportion of delayed intra-abdominal hemorrhage than patients who did not undergo the procedure. The MLR analysis showed that TEVAR for BTAI was an independent risk factor for delayed intra-abdominal hemorrhage (odds ratio: 10.534, 95%, p<0.001).
Conclusion: An increased probability of delayed intra-abdominal hemorrhage in patients with BAT (who could be managed conservatively) was observed in patients who underwent TEVAR for concomitant BTAI.
Clinical impact: More attention should be give in patients with high grade aortic injuries and concomitant abdominal trauma.
Keywords: EVAR; blunt abdominal trauma; blunt aortic injury; delayed hemorrhage.