The systemic inflammatory response syndrome, organ failure, and mortality after abdominal aortic aneurysm repair

Organ failure is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair. The aim of this study was to determine the relationships between the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), organ failure, and mortality after AAA repair and to determine whether the clinical monitoring of SIRS was a useful adjunct to clinical method.

One hundred consecutive patients undergoing open AAA repair were prospectively studied. Patients were divided into three groups: those undergoing elective AAA repair, those with symptomatic but nonruptured AAA, and those with ruptured AAA. The presence of SIRS and organ failure was recorded on a daily basis for each patient until discharge or death.

Most patients had SIRS develop during the postoperative period: 89% of the elective group, 92% of the emergency nonruptured (urgent) group, and 100% of the ruptured group. Multiorgan failure occurred in 3.8% of the elective group, 38% of the urgent group, and 64% of the ruptured AAA group. After ruptured AAA repair, the concurrent absence of both SIRS and any organ failure for 48 hours had a sensitivity of 93% and a specificity of 91% as a predictive indicator of subsequent survival to hospital discharge. Patients in whom multiorgan failure developed after ruptured AAA repair had a significantly higher mortality rate (69%) than those who did not (0%; P =.001; 95% CI for the difference, 30.2% to 85.8%).

The differences in the incidence rate of multiorgan failure between the patient groups compared with the high incidence rate of SIRS in all patient groups supports the two-hit hypothesis of multiorgan failure. The presence of multiorgan failure after ruptured AAA repair is associated with poor outcome. The absence of SIRS and organ failure in these patients is a good predictive indicator of survival.