Stent-graft is a special prosthesis intended for the treatment of aortic aneurysms. This time, a 65-year-old patient with a 4-cm internal aneurysm of the internal iliac was operated by the surgeons. This is a relatively small vessel and the aneurysm of this size is a threat - at any moment the diseased walls of the vessel can break and life-threatening hemorrhage can occur. In the case of this patient, there was no chance for classic surgery - the change is too deep and there is no surgical approach. Until now, surgeons have treated such cases by ligating or turning off the artery (glue or special spirals). However, with such a solution, the consequence is the problem of proper blood supply to organs in the pelvis, among others intestines and an erection problem. And although the majority of vascular aneurysms treat the grafting of stent-grafts - in the case of the location of this aneurysm, it was not possible.
- Up to now, we had two types of stent-grafts: very rigid and self-expanding, flexible. None of them could be implanted in this patient - explains dr hab. Jerzy Głowiński, head of the Department of Vascular and Transplant Surgery. - First, they have specific dimensions. In addition, a rigid stent-graft could damage the blood vessel - the iliac artery is relatively small and winding. In turn, a flexible stentgraft could move around the vessel. This vessel is also not even on its entire length: in the initial section it is 8 mm, and in the final 5 mm in diameter.
Now the vascularists got a new kind of stent-graft - VBX. It is a bit like "earthworm": it consists of alternately rigid and flexible rings. What is the most important, however, these steel rings allow you to increase the diameter by up to 100% (from 8 to 16mm), they are of different length (the shortest is 15 mm and the longest is 79 mm). In addition, they expand on the balloon, which allows very precise manipulation of the stent-graft. In addition, the balloon is covered with a layer of fluoropolymer, which prevents the mounted stent graft from slipping. Another additional advantage - the inner surface of the stent graft has a heparin coating that prevents the formation of blood clots.
On April 10, surgeons performed the first operation using a new stent-graft. It ended with full success. The operation was performed in a new hybrid room, which was launched a few weeks ago for the needs of vascular surgeons. This is the second hybrid room operating in the University Clinical Hospital (one is dedicated to cardiac surgeons). The cost of its creation was 9 million PLN (5 million worth of equipment).
