[Blunt aortic injury/choosing appropriate time for surgery]

Abstract

Based on our experience in a cohort of 39 patients and also on the results of post-mortem findings obtained from the department of forensic medicine in Hamburg, we prefer to perform emergency surgery only in cases of aortic aneurysms over 6 cm in diameter, in cases of hemorrhage, or in coarctation syndrome. Because of the high incidence of concomitant multiorgan injuries, surgery for aortic lesions with only radiologic symptoms is not performed until a period of 2-8 weeks has elapsed since the injury, according to the degree of stabilisation. With this strategy, the mortality in surgical management of aortic injuries in our department is about 15%.