Application of the aortic balloon occlusion technique in Sun's procedure: A single-center study

To study the impact of a balloon occlusion (BO) technique in stented elephant trunk implantation in Sun's procedure for acute Stanford type A aortic dissection (AAAD) on important postoperative organ complications and patient rehabilitation.

Eighty-five patients with AAAD who underwent Sun's procedure from January 2019 to January 2020 were selected. Cases were divided into two groups based on whether the aortic BO technique was used in stented elephant trunk implantation: the BO group and the nonballoon occlusion (NBO) group. The collected data included the patients' clinical characteristics, operative data, postoperative complications and recovery. We applied statistical software to study the impact of a BO technique in stented elephant trunk implantation in Sun's procedure.

A total of 85 patients with AAAD underwent Sun's procedure. A total of 29 used BO technique, 56 did not use. The circulatory arrest time in the BO group was controlled within 8.07 ± 2.33 min, and the nasopharyngeal temperature dropped to 28°C. Overall postoperative complications were less frequent in BO group than NBO group (52% vs. 75%; p = .030). Using BO technique, we reduced the 24-h drainage volume, and lowered the occurrence of hypoxemia (48%), liver dysfunction (10%), and median tracheal intubation time was 37 h (range: 12.5-106 h), median intensive care unit (ICU) time was 65 h (range: 17-207 h).

During total aortic arch replacement and stented elephant trunk surgery for AAAD, we used the aortic BO technique, which avoids deeper hypothermia and effectively shortens circulatory arrest times. This approach is helpful for reducing the incidence of postoperative complications and shortening the intensive care unit time. This method also reduces the patient's medical burden and facilitates faster recovery.