In this study We reviewed the complications associated with perioperative lumbar drain (LD) placement for endovascular aortic repair.
Methods
Patients who had undergone perioperative LD placement for endovascular repair of thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic pathologies from 2010 to 2019 were reviewed. The primary endpoints were major and minor LD-associated complications. Complications that had resulted in neurological sequelae or had required an intervention or a delay in operation were defined as major. These included intracranial hemorrhage, symptomatic spinal hematoma, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak requiring intervention, meningitis, retained catheter tip, arachnoiditis, and traumatic (or bloody) tap resulting in delayed operation. Minor complications were defined as a bloody tap without a delay in surgery, asymptomatic epidural hematoma, and CSF leak with no intervention required. Isolated headaches were recorded separately owing to the minimal clinical impact. The complications associated with LD placement can be severe even when performed by a dedicated team. Previous LD placement and overweight body mass index were associated with a significantly greater risk of complications; however, emergent therapeutic placement was not. Although these risks are justified for therapeutic LD placement, the benefit of prophylactic LD placement to prevent paraplegia should be weighed against these serious complications.
Reference link- https://www.jvascsurg.org/article/S0741-5214(20)32146-7/fulltext
