Annals of vascular surgery
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The management of blunt descending thoracic aortic injury remains controversial. Despite emerging evidence touting the advantage of endovascular repair in civilian trauma, there have been no reports on the application of this management strategy in the austere environment of war. We provide a case report from the 332nd EMDG/Air Force Theater Hospital, Balad Air Base, Iraq. ⋯ This report details the first endovascular treatment of blunt aortic injury in wartime and represents a sustained commitment to advance innovative endovascular capability closer to the time of injury. Although controversial, this less invasive approach is appealing in patients with high injury severity scores, making its availability in wartime especially germane.
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Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) of a lower limb arterial segment is a well-established treatment for suitable lesions for critical or noncritical lower limb ischemia. Our aim was to define the inflammatory response after PTA by measuring inflammatory markers. ⋯ PTA appears to cause a significant inflammatory response compared to angiography alone. This demonstrates a systemic manifestation of localized ischemia/reperfusion injury. Further investigation of the inflammatory response due to ischemia/reperfusion injury and its correlation with restenosis is recommended.