Seminars in vascular surgery
-
Besides renal failure and mesenteric infarction, spinal cord ischemia is the most dreaded complication after thoracoabdominal aortic surgery. Several techniques have been developed to improve neurologic outcome of these massive surgical procedures, including pharmacologic adjuncts, epidural cooling, distal aortic perfusion, cerebrospinal fluid drainage, and reattachment of segmental arteries. ⋯ The surgical protocol included left heart bypass and cerebrospinal fluid drainage, and MEP monitoring was applied to identify critical intercostal and lumbar arteries. Based on MEPs, the aggressive surgical approach resulted in a significant reduction of neurologic complications (2.3%).