Doctors from the Da Nang General Hospital have saved the life of a 53-year-old man from Quang Nam Province’s Dien Ban District who suffered multiple injuries, and thoracic aortic rupture (TAR) as a result of a traffic accident.

A doctor examining the male patient after the surgery

Previously, the patient had been rushed to the hospital due to a sudden cardiovascular collapse.

Ultrasound scan helped doctors detect that the man suffered severe chest trauma that requires an urgent cardiac surgery.

According to Doctor Nguyen Minh Hai from the Ward of Surgery-Cardiovascular Intervention at the hospital, this is a rare form of injury.

The surgeons found serious injuries inside the chest of the patient, especially aortic root rupture, and a stream of blood spouting out of the wound.

During the 7- hour-long operation, in addition to an aortic valve replacement, the replacement of thoracic aortic root with artificial blood vessels along with the resumption of two broken coronary arteries were conducted.

After having undergone the surgery, the patient gradually recovered his health, and he is expected to be discharged from the hospital over the next few days.

Thoracic aortic rupture (TAR) is recognised as a cause of death in victims of blunt trauma. Immediate mortality is 85% but in the group who survive to reach hospital there is a reasonable chance of successful surgical repair. TAR can be remarkably occult and the emergency physician is paramount in making the initial diagnosis. If suggestive, but often subtle features are not recognised in the early phase they will go undetected until full rupture and death occurs.