CELIAC ARTERY ANEURYSM: A NEW METHOD IN THE MANAGEMENT OF AN OLD PROBLEM

Celiac artery aneurysm is a rare visceral aneurysm, comparising only 4 % of them. In this article, an innovative surgical method is presented for the treatment o f such aneurysms. A 53 year old female referred to our center with epigastric pain and a mass in the region, which was diagnosed as a case of celiac artery aneurysm by using different imaging techniques. During the operation, according to the firm adherence of the mass to the aorta and a short celiac artery stump, we omitted aortic clamping and took control of entrance and exit sites to the aneurysm using a Foley and a Fogarthy catheter respectively. Using the normal part of the aneurysm's wall, the damaged part was trimmed and patched with a PTFE vascular patch. The patient was discharged satisfactorily in two days and did not have any problem in her follow-up. There was no need for extracorporeal oxygenation and total time of the procedure and vascularization was shortened. This surgical method obviates extracorporeal oxygenation due to reduction of aortic clamping time. Total procedure time and revascularization time will be shortened. It is proposed as an alternate method in cases when a short stump restricts proximal clamping, and also since there is little risk of renal and visceral ischemia.