Patient management in aortic arch surgery

Abstract

Aortic arch surgery requires complex patient management beyond the manual replacement of the diseased vessel. These procedures include (i) a thorough and pathologically adjusted preoperative evaluation, (ii) initiation and control of cardiopulmonary bypass, (iii) cerebral protection strategies and (iv) techniques to protect the abdominal end organs during prolonged operations. Due to the complexity of aortic arch procedures, multimodal real-time surveillance is required during all stages of the operation. Although having the patient survive the operation is the major goal, further observation is necessary because of the chronicity of the disease. This review summarizes specific aspects of patient management during and after operations requiring periods of circulatory arrest, without necessarily referring to all studies on this topic. The pros and cons of different strategies are weighed against each other, including the personal experience of the authors. A number of questions are raised without providing a 'right' or 'wrong' answer. We show that a number of different well-established strategies can result in comparable excellent long-lasting surgical results.