PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Leslie M Kobayashi
AU  - Todd W Costantini
AU  - Michelle G Hamel
AU  - Julie E Dierksheide
AU  - Raul Coimbra
TI  - Abdominal vascular trauma
AID  - 10.1136/tsaco-2016-000015
DP  - 2016 Jul 01
TA  - Trauma Surgery & Acute Care Open
PG  - e000015
VI  - 1
IP  - 1
4099  - http://tsaco.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000015.short
4100  - http://tsaco.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000015.full
AB  - Abdominal vascular trauma, primarily due to penetrating mechanisms, is uncommon. However, when it does occur, it can be quite lethal, with mortality ranging from 20% to 60%. Increased early mortality has been associated with shock, acidosis, hypothermia, coagulopathy, free intraperitoneal bleeding and advanced American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Organ Injury Scale grade. These patients often arrive at medical centers in extremis and require rapid surgical control of bleeding and aggressive resuscitation including massive transfusion protocols. The most important factor in survival is surgical control of hemorrhage and restoration of appropriate perfusion to the abdominal contents and lower extremities. These surgical approaches and the techniques of definitive vascular repair can be quite challenging, particularly to the inexperienced surgeon. This review hopes to describe the most common abdominal vascular injuries, their presentation, outcomes, and surgical techniques to control and repair such injuries.