Blunt Aortic Injury

doi:10.1056/NEJMra0706159

Volume 359:1708-1716		October 16, 2008		Number 16

Blunt Aortic Injury

David G. Neschis, M.D., Thomas M. Scalea, M.D., William R. Flinn, M.D., and Bartley P. Griffith, M.D.

Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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PubMed Citation

Blunt aortic injury occurs in less than 1% of motor vehiclecrashes but is responsible for 16% of the deaths.¹ This injuryis second only to head injury as the leading cause of deathafter vehicular crashes.² Up to 80% of patients die before theirarrival at a hospital. Of those who survive the initial injury,a majority will die without definitive treatment.³

Mechanism of Injury

Blunt aortic injury most often occurs after sudden deceleration,usually in automobile crashes. Other causes include crashesof motorcycles and aircraft, auto–pedestrian collisions,falls, and crush injury.³ In a prospective study of hospitaladmissions involving blunt aortic . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Pathophysiological Features

Diagnosis

Minimal Aortic Injury

Perioperative Decision Making

Surgical Repair

Endovascular Repair

Source Information

From the Divisions of Vascular Surgery (D.G.N., W.R.F.) and Cardiac Surgery (B.P.G.), Department of Surgery, and the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center (T.M.S.), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Neschis at the Division of Vascular Surgery, University of Maryland Medical Center, 22 S. Greene St., Rm. N4W66, Baltimore, MD 21201, or at dneschis@smail.umaryland.edu.