Abdominal “heartbeat”, alert abdominal aortic aneurysm

(Disclaimer: This article is only for popularization of science, in order to protect the patient’s privacy, the relevant information in the following content has been processed) Abstract: This article describes an elderly patient, because his grandson was playing in his abdomen, and accidentally felt a “heartbeat” in his abdomen and came to the clinic. The outpatient CTA examination revealed an abdominal aortic aneurysm, which met the indications for surgery, and after completing the relevant investigations, minimally invasive treatment was carried out – endoluminal isolation of abdominal aortic aneurysm, with good postoperative recovery and disappearance of the abdominal throbbing mass. the aneurysm disappeared, the stent had good morphology, and the hemodynamics was stable after a follow-up examination in three months. Minimally invasive treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm has become the treatment of choice for such patients. Basic information] Male, 64 years old [Disease type] Abdominal aortic aneurysm [Hospital] Liaoning Provincial People’s Hospital [Date of consultation] July 2021 [Treatment plan] Endoluminal isolation of abdominal aortic aneurysm [Treatment cycle] 11 days of hospitalization, 1 month and 3 months after the operation, outpatient follow up [Results] Aneurysm disappeared, stent morphology is good, hemodynamic stability I. Initial consultation A 65-year-old male patient with a “physical examination found a moving mass, good stent morphology, hemodynamic stability”. A 65-year-old male patient came to the department with “abdominal aortic dilatation on physical examination”, and the CTA of abdominal aorta showed abdominal aortic aneurysm with iliac artery aneurysm, with a maximum diameter of 6.2 cm. When asked about his medical history, the patient had a history of hypertension, and he was taking medication regularly, and his blood pressure was under good control. There was no history of diabetes mellitus, heart disease or cerebrovascular disease, and he was a smoker. Physical examination: vital signs were stable, abdomen was flat, no abdominal pressure, rebound pain and muscle tension, a pulsatile mass was palpable on the left side of the umbilicus, pulsation was consistent with the rhythm of the heart, about 5×7cm, border was clear, there was no obvious tenderness, and there was a vascular murmur on auscultation. After admission to the hospital, relevant examinations were performed to assess the patient’s condition. Preoperative examinations and test results showed no obvious abnormalities, and the patient’s blood pressure was well controlled. Considering the patient’s age and many underlying diseases, traditional open surgery is very traumatic and takes a long time to perform, therefore, the patient and his family were advised to prefer the minimally invasive endoluminal treatment – endoluminal isolation of abdominal aortic aneurysm. This is to isolate the abdominal aortic aneurysm by means of stenting, which does not require incision, but only implantation of laminar stents in the abdominal aorta after puncture from bilateral femoral arteries, which is a long operation time, less traumatic, and quicker recovery. After obtaining the consent of the patient and his family, the endoluminal isolation of abdominal aortic aneurysm was performed under general anesthesia, and postoperative imaging showed that the abdominal aortic aneurysm had disappeared without any obvious endoleak. The operation went smoothly and the patient recovered well after the operation. After the operation, the patient was treated with symptomatic supportive therapy such as anti-inflammatory, analgesic and rehydration, and was hospitalized for 3 days, recovered well, and was discharged from the hospital. Third, the therapeutic effect After the operation, the patient was regularly rechecked. 1 month after the operation, the outpatient rechecked, the patient’s abdominal throbbing mass disappeared, without obvious complaints of discomfort. 3 months after the rechecking, the patient’s CTA of abdominal aorta rechecked, it was seen that abdominal aortic aneurysm disappeared, the stent had good morphology, no displacement, no obvious leakage, the abdominal aortic aneurysm was completely cured. Precautions After the patient underwent endoluminal isolation of abdominal aortic aneurysm, he got a good therapeutic effect, and I was very happy as the attending physician. However, the patient still needs to pay attention to the following matters: 1. The treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysm is mainly to control the blood pressure, most of the patients are combined with hypertension, which is the direct cause of abdominal aortic dilatation. It is recommended that the patient should control the blood pressure, take low-salt and low-fat diets, take medication regularly, and regulate the blood pressure in the cardiovascular medicine department when necessary. Especially for patients without surgery, blood pressure should be controlled at 120/80mmHg to avoid rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm; 2. The most important thing after abdominal aortic aneurysm surgery is regular review. It is recommended that patients should have CTA examination of abdominal aorta at 1 month, 3 months, half a year and 1 year after surgery, and if there is no abnormality, it is recommended to review at least once a year thereafter. Endoluminal treatment has complications such as aneurysm recurrence and endoleak formation in the distant future, and further surgical treatment is needed if such situations occur. Abdominal aortic aneurysm is a common arterial dilatation disease in vascular surgery, which increases with age. Smoking is a clear cause of the disease, while coronary heart disease and hypercholesterolemia also increase the incidence. If the abdominal aortic aneurysm does not rupture, most of the patients have no obvious symptoms. Once ruptured, it is very easy for patients to die of hemorrhagic shock, and the only way to treat it is surgery. Traditional open surgery requires an approximately 30-cm-long mid-abdominal incision for abdominal aortic aneurysm resection and Y-type artificial blood vessel grafting, which is difficult to carry out because of the long operating time. Endoluminal therapy, as an emerging treatment, has become a boon for patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms by performing endoluminal isolation of abdominal aortic aneurysms with minimally invasive interventional methods. And after the operation, regular review and blood pressure control should be paid attention to in order to avoid recurrence of the disease or other complications.