Comparison of traditional vascular reconstruction with covered stent in the treatment of subclavian artery injury

PURPOSE: To explore the significance of traditional vascular reconstruction and covered stent for limb salvage after subclavian artery injury. METHODS: Patients with subclavian artery injury admitted to Beijing Jishuitan Hospital from January 2010 to December 2018 were retrospectively analyzed. All the injuries have been confirmed by intraoperative exploration, computed tomography angiography or digital subtraction angiography. Complete or partial amputation injuries were excluded. Mild artery defect or partial intimal damage was treated by interventional implantation, while other patients received open surgeries, including direct suture of small defect less than 2 cm and transplantation with autologous vein or artificial blood when the defect was more than 2 cm. Patients were divided into open surgery group and stent implantation group based on the treatment they received. Patients were followed up at 2 weeks (first stage) and 6 months (second stage) after operation to investigate limb salvage. Student's t-test was used to compare the general data between two groups and Chi-square test to analyze the rate of limb salvage. RESULTS: Altogether 50 cases of subclavian artery injury were treated, including 36 cases of open surgery and 14 cases of stent implantation. Combination of nerve injury was observed in 27 cases (75.0%) in open surgery group and 12 cases (85.7%) in stent implantation group. Amputation developed in 3 cases with open surgery and 1 case with stent implantation. Consequently the rate of successful limb salvage was respectively 91.7% (33/36) and 92.9% (13/14), revealing no significant difference (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Rapid reconstruction of blood circulation is crucial following subclavian artery injury, no matter what kinds of treatment strategies have been adopted. Interventional stent implantation can achieve a good effect for limb salvage.