Endovascular management of blunt abdominal aortic injury

The endovascular management of blunt aortic injuries is being used more frequently in the trauma patient. Traumatic aortic injuries usually occur in the descending thoracic aorta near the origin of the left subclavian artery. Many reports in the literature demonstrate the efficacy of endovascular repair of blunt thoracic aortic injury. We report here an unusual case of abdominal aortic dissection secondary to blunt abdominal trauma following a fall. The patient also had associated intra-abdominal injuries requiring bowel resection and repair of small bowel mesenteric lacerations. He was treated with a bifurcated abdominal endograft with an excellent result after the initial operation was performed to treat the bowel injuries.