Endovascular Aortic Repair of Primary Adult Coarctation: Implications and Challenges for Postoperative Nursing

Endovascular aortic repair is a relatively new surgical technique used to treat a variety of aortic pathologies. Aortic coarctation traditionally has been managed with open surgical repair, involving a large posterolateral thoracotomy, cardiopulmonary bypass, and replacement of the narrowed section of the aorta with a dacron graft. Recent advances in minimally invasive aortic surgery have allowed for repair of the diseased section with an endovascular stent placed percutaneously through the groin under intraoperative fluoroscopic guidance. In this paper, the authors willfocus on the implicationsfor postoperative nursing care after endovascular repair of aortic coarctation using a case study of a 17-year-old male. This novel technique required education of the health care team with respect to implications for practice, understanding potential complications, discharge planning and follow-up. With any new surgical technique there are many questions and challenges that health care professionals raise. The main concerns expressed from the health care team stemmed from a lack of understanding of the disease pathology, and the different risk profile associated with an endovascular repair in contrast to an open repair. The authors will address these concerns in detail.