BLUNT TRAUMA TO THE THORACIC AORTA: MECHANISMS INVOLVED, DIAGNOSIS AND MANAGEMENT

Traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta is a life threatening situation,
and may be secondary to several mechanisms; mainly penetrating or
iatrogenic lesions and blunt trauma. Although penetrating mechanisms
predominate, the number of patients with aortic disruption due to blunt
trauma has continued to increase. This paper shows an overview focusing
on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, timing and type of treatment regarding
traumatic injuries of the thoracic aorta; it also reports the experience of
one single center that deals with these lesions.
The major difficulty in the evaluation data on blunt aortic injury is
that retrospective reviews often group together patients with all types
of aortic lesions, comparing outcomes for injuries in different locations,
with diverse methods of repair and different surgeons and/or institutions.