Endovascular Aortic Stent Placement

ENDOVASCULAR AORTIC STENT PLACEMENT

An 83-year-old man presents for therapy of a 7 cm descending thoracic aortic aneurysm. He has a history of coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, and previous abdominal aortic aneurysm repair. The descending aortic aneurysm begins 5 cm distal to the left subclavian artery and extends for 30 cm. Because of the patient’s concurrent medical conditions, an endovascular repair is planned, with several self-expanding endografts. He tolerates the procedure without incident. In the postanesthesia care unit, the patient becomes febrile, mildly hypotensive, and develops oozing at the surgical sites.