Stent thrombectomy for acute upper limb ischemia associated with thrombosis or thromboembolism: a case series

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of endovascular stent thrombectomy for acute upper limb ischemia caused by thrombosis or thromboembolism of the major arteries of the upper limb. Methods: We evaluated the effectiveness and safety of this technique in 18 patients with acute upper limb ischemia. The mean age was 72 (38-93) years; 66.7% of the patients were women. Arterial hypertension was observed in 94.4% of the patients, and 38.9% of the patients had confirmed atrial fibrillation. Results: The primary success rate (complete revascularization according to angiography findings) was 83.3% (15 of 18 cases). We used this technique as a stand-alone procedure in 15 cases. Two patients received self-expanding stents, and 1 patient had selective thrombolytic therapy. In 3 cases we did not relieve symptoms of acute ischemia and perform any upper limb amputations during hospitalization, nor did we have any conversions to open surgery. Two patients died during hospitalization: one patient died of acute myocardial infarction, and another died of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in the postoperative period. Conclusion: This endovascular thrombectomy technique in combination with other endovascular techniques is highly effective and has a number of benefits, such as low trauma, no need for general anesthesia, accurate intra- and postoperative patency control, timely detection of emboli with the possibility of their removal from arteries comparable in diameter to a stent delivery system (up to 1.8 mm).