Stent Graft Placement for Injured Visceral Artery

Abstract

Injury of the visceral artery is a potentially fatal complication of iatrogenic procedures, trauma, and tumors. A stent graft can achieve rapid exclusion of the injured arterial portion and minimize the risk of ischemic complications by preserving arterial flow to organs. Although various types of stent grafts are available worldwide, Viabahn has only been approved for visceral arterial injury in Japan. The reported technical and clinical success rates, including cases with injured pelvic or thoracic arterial branches, are 80%-100% and 66.7%-100%, respectively. Severe ischemic complications are rare; however, fatal ischemia occurs when the stent graft is immediately occluded. The necessity of antiplatelet therapy is controversial, and a target artery diameter ≤ 4 mm is a significantly higher risk factor of stent-graft occlusion.