ABSTRACT
Abdominal aortic injury (AAI) due to blunt trauma is rare and is often complicated by thrombosis within the true and false lumens and sometimes aortic rupture. No standard guidelines for treatment are available. We present the case of a 44-year-old female patient with posttraumatic dissection of the abdominal aorta, which was referred to our institution for endovascular aortic repair (EVAR). The patient was referred to our institution after emergency surgery following blunt abdominal trauma due to a car accident. Initial computed tomography (CT), performed at the referring hospital, showed multiple bone injuries with pneumothorax, liver and spleen lacerations, and rupture of the anterior abdominal wall with mesenteric injury and active intraperitoneal extravasation of contrast media from visceral arteries. Initial CT also showed dissection of the distal part of the abdominal aorta. Due to hemodynamic instability, emergency surgery was performed for intraperitoneal injuries. Control computed tomography angiography (CTA) after surgery confirmed a dissection of the distal part of the abdominal aorta at the level of the bifurcation protruding into the right common iliac artery with partial thrombosis of the right iliac artery and no active extravasation of the contrast media at the level of the aorta. An aberrant left renal artery was also identified. A hemodynamically stable patient was transferred to our institution for emergency EVAR which was performed without intraprocedural complications. Control CTA after EVAR showed a good result of the procedure with minimal type 2 endoleak and no extravasation. EVAR can also be used to treat AAI without active extravasation to prevent future total rupture of the aortic wall.
