Prolonged balloon occlusion of the lower abdominal aorta during pelvic or sacral tumor resection

To explore the efficacy of lower abdominal aorta balloon occlusion technology in pelvis and sacral tumor surgery and to assess the safety of prolonged balloon occlusion.

From January 2008 to January 2017, 81 patients were diagnosed with sacrum or pelvic tumor and underwent surgery in our institution. Balloon catheters were placed through the femoral artery to occlude the abdominal aorta of the pelvic tumor and sacrum region undergoing tumor resection. These patients were divided into two group based on single balloon blocking time. Group A had a balloon blocking time of 60 minutes or less, and group B had a balloon occlusion time greater than 60 minutes. The patients in the two groups were compared with regards to operation time, intraoperative blood loss, blood transfusion volume, average length of hospital stay, and postoperative complications.

No balloon displacement or leakage of the abdominal aorta occurred during the operations. The difference in operation time between the two groups was statistically significant (P≤0.05), and the differences in intraoperative blood loss, blood transfusion volume, and average hospital stay between groups A and B were not significant (P>0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications was 12% in group A, and 22.6% in group B, with no statistically significant differences (P>0.05).

Prolonged balloon occlusion was safe and effective in the surgical treatment of complicated pelvic and sacral tumors. It did not increase the incidence of postoperative complications such as distal limb paralysis, arterial thrombosis, or ischemic necrosis.