Emergency Surgery of the Abdominal Aorta in a Porcine Model: Two Sequential Experiments

Abstract

[EN]The aim of this study was to design an aggressive nonlethal animal model that would simulate surgical treatment of the abdominal aorta with a view to studying the systemic inflammatory response. Fourteen pigs were subjected to two sequential experiments. Experiment A was performed to determine the response to two degrees of hemorrhage: (A1) 40% bleeding; and (A2) 60% bleeding over 15 minutes followed by midline laparotomy and aortic dissection. Experiment B included two methods of aortic repair: (B1) aortic resection and replacement with a prosthesis; and (B2) aortic bypass without aortic resection. In the latter two groups, suprarenal aortic cross-clamping was placed for 30 minutes after a 40% hemorrhage. We analyzed various inflammatory markers and mortality. The 40% bleeding (vs. 60%) elicited a smaller decrease in mean arterial pressure (110 ± 6