Objective To explore the effective surgical approaches in treating subclavian artery occlusion. Methods Between December 2005 and February 2010, 53 patients with subclavian artery occlusion were treated, including left subclavian artery occlusion (35 cases) and stenosis (5 cases), right subclavian artery occlusion (5 cases) and stenosis (4 cases), and bilateral subclavian artery occlusion (4 cases). There were 40 males and 13 females with an average age of 64 years (range, 22-77 years), including 49 cases of arteriosclerosis obl iterans and 4 cases of aortic arteritis. The disease duration was 15 days to 20 months (6.5 months on average). In 49 patients with unilateral subclavian artery occlusion, 39 cases compl icated by carotid or / and cerebral artery lesion underwent axillo-axillary bypass grafting, and 10 cases without carotid or /and cerebral artery lesion underwent carotid-subclavian bypass grafting. Ascending aorta to bisubclavian bypass graftings were performed on 4 cases with bilateral subclavian artery occlusion. After operation, patients received routine treatment with anticoagulant and antiplatelet agents. Results The operations were successfully performed in 52 cases with a successful rate of 98.11%. Thrombogenesis at anastomotic site occurred in 1 case of aortic arteritis after 48 hours. Two cases had brachial plexus crush injury and 4 had hematoma around the bilateral anastomosis after axillo-axillary bypass grafting, and all recovered with nonoperative therapy. A total of 52 patients were followed up 1-52 months (24.5 months on average). All patients survived and the symptoms of basilar and upper l imb artery ischemia disappeared. Doppler ultrasonography showed that the blood flow was patent through anastomosis and polytetrafluoroethylene graft, and the vertebral artery flow was normal. Pseudoaneurysm at anastomosis was found in 1 case after 18 months and treated by interventional embol ization. The postoperative graft patency rate was 100% at 1 year and at 2 years. Conclusion Both thoracic and extrathoracic surgical approaches are effective for treating subclavianartery occlusion. The reasonable surgical approach should be selected according to the arteriopathy and the patient’s condition. Perioperative treatment and strict intraoperative manipulation are important to guarantee the success of surgery.
Objective To explore the treatment of traumaticsubclavian artery. Methods From July 1990 to January 2006, 12 cases of traumatic subclavian artery were treated byusing of combined incision of superior-inferior clavian. All patients were male,aging 18-36 years(mean 22.6 years). The locations were section 1 of subclavianartery in 1 case, section 2 in 4 cases and section 3 in 7 cases. All patients had incomplete rupture and defect. Time from injury to operation was 3 hours to 1.5 months. The methods of vascular repair included primary repair, end-to-end anastomosis and artificial vascular prosthesis grafts. Results There was no death. Extremities survived in all cases and got good function in 10cases.All patients were followed up 2 months to 12 years (mean 5 yeras and 2 months). The pulse of radial artery restored to normal in 10 cases and did not be felt in 2 cases. The function of extremities restored to normal in 2 cases withpartial injury of brachial plexus nerve and did not improve in 2 cases with complete injury ofbrachial plexus nerve. 〖WTHZ〗Conclusion The exposure of subclavian artery is difficult because of its particular anatomy region. The repair and reconstruction of subclavian artery should be selected according to the type of vascular injuries. Combined superiorinferior clavian approach can satisfy the exposure and repair for the subclavian artery.