Endovascular treatment of traumatic thoracic aortic rupture combined with diaphragmatic rupture--a case report

The purposes of this report are to describe the immediate repair of a diaphragmatic rupture and subsequent endovascular treatment of a thoracic aortic rupture secondary to blunt chest and abdominal trauma and to discuss the outcome in the light of the trauma scores. A 29-year-old man was injured in a car collision. There were signs of a left diaphragmatic rupture and spleen injury. After urgent laparotomy, the diaphragm was repaired. The spleen appeared uninjured; however, there was a dissection with a transmural tear of the thoracic aorta, which was subsequently treated intraluminally by using a Talent endovascular graft and two AneuRx aortic extension cuffs. The patient fully recovered, and the thoracic endograft showed no evidence of endoleak both 1 month and 1 year after treatment. Fourteen months after the operation, the patient is doing well. Endoluminal techniques can be used successfully in the immediate repair of thoracic aortic injuries, even in the presence of a diaphragmatic rupture. With the introduction of advanced repair modalities, such as endovascular techniques, mortality rates will decrease and may eventually alter injury-scoring systems such as the Injury Severity Score.