Post-Operative Complications and Management

Post-Operative Complications and Management

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General


As mentioned previously, vascular patients are at higher risk of post-operative MI – so take chest pain seriously. You will find the other general post-operative complications such as atelectasis, pneumonia, PE, renal failure, etc. in any other surgical textbook; here we deal with the specifics. One general risk to make a point of, though, is that vascular surgery is risky in terms of mortality: for instance, the risk during AAA repair is on average about 5%.


Wound Complications


All wounds can develop these, but those at highest risk are groin wounds, particularly if made vertically.



  • Haematoma: Essentially a blood clot, usually resolves spontaneously.
  • Seroma: Especially groin because of injury to the abundant lymphatic tissue. Usually resolves spontaneously but may need aspiration.
  • Dehiscence:

    • Superficial: Skin only.
    • Deep: Exposure of an underlying graft. This is very serious because the graft will become infected, which will be impossible to treat without its removal. These patients require very careful consideration if the graft is to be salvaged.

  • Infection: Very important to treat aggressively, especially if prosthetic graft is nearby.

Specific


Open AAA Repair


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Jul 1, 2016 | Posted by in CARDIOLOGY | Comments Off on Post-Operative Complications and Management

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