CASE STUDY
Use of The Belmont® Rapid Infuser in Thoracoabdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
Hospital:
Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Campus Hospital
Location:
Barcelona, Spain
Date:
July 2020
SURGICAL TREATMENT OF AORTIC DISEASE
The Anesthesia Aortic Team of Vall d´Hebron Barcelona Campus Hospital in Spain was presented with the challenging case of treating a patient affected by the connective-tissue disorder, Loyes Dietz (LDS), which is characterized as a very aggressive aortic disease causing aneurysm formation with a high likelihood of dissection or rupture at a young age. Compared with other systemic syndromes affecting the aorta, LDS is distinguished by poor tissue quality, and the vascular disease can affect any part of the vascular tree, from cerebral to pelvis arteries.
The patient was scheduled for an open thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm repair of an enormous aortic aneurysm. To complicate the matter, the patient was also affected by other massive aneurysms of the left mammary artery, several intercostal arteries, and iliac arteries.
“Bleeding and coagulopathy during the surgery was impossible to manage without The Belmont® Rapid Infuser, because of the amount of warmed blood we transfused.”
—Dr. Naoufal Zebdi, Anesthesia Aortic Team
THE CORNERSTONE OF ANESTHETIC MANAGEMENT
During the complex surgical case, the patient suffered massive and catastrophic bleeding while surgeons were dissecting the aorta from visceral arteries.
The skilled Anesthesia Aortic Team had extensively prepared for every scenario and immediately jumped into action utilizing two cell savers to maximize the amount of salvaged blood that could be collected. The salvaged blood was rapidly rewarmed and safely transfused back into the patient via The Belmont® Rapid Infuser.
The surgical team was eventually able to control the bleeding and the surgery was successfully completed after more than 67 liters of blood were transfused through The Belmont® Rapid Infuser.
