ABSTRACT
Forty-four cases of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm were treated between January 1980 and December 1995. We classified the cases into three groups: Group I, 1980-1984; Group II, 1985-1989; and Group III, 1990-1995 and evaluated the surgical results, the preoperative states, the bleeding and blood transfusion volume and so on. The surgical results have improved every year and there were no surgical deaths during the past seven years. Most of the causes of previous surgical deaths were DIC (4 cases) and renal failure (3 cases). The volume of intraoperative bleeding was 7227.3±3293.4ml in Group I, 4176.0±2577.9ml in Group II and 1781.9±1877.0ml in Group III. The volume of intraoperative blood transfusion was 6975.5±2711.6ml in Group I, 4826.7±2596.6ml in Group II and 3542.4±1561.5ml in Group III. We decreased the volume of intraoperative blood transfusion significantly in Group III by using a Cell Saver. The surgical results have improved significantly due to the decrease of bleeding and blood transfusion under the rapid control of bleeding and the autotransfusion of shed blood using the Cell Saver. The technique of postoperative care also contributed to the more satisfactory results.