The Department of Surgery at the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen has achieved a significant professional success. The vascular surgery unit performed its first emergency stent graft implantation (EVAR), which was required due to a ruptured aortic aneurysm.
Planned EVAR procedures are already considered routine in Debrecen, but performing an emergency intervention during on-call hours represents a major step forward and ensures that more patients will have a chance of recovery in the future.
An aortic aneurysm is a dilation of the body’s main artery, the aorta, which, if it ruptures, leads to a critical condition. Due to internal bleeding, the chances of survival decrease minute by minute. Traditional open abdominal surgery in such cases is extremely demanding and carries a high risk. In contrast, EVAR (Endovascular Aneurysm Repair) is a minimally invasive procedure that significantly reduces surgical stress and allows for faster recovery.
While planned EVAR procedures are already routine at the Department of Surgery, the specialists recently also performed the first emergency intervention during on-call duty.
“During the procedure, we treated the ruptured section of the abdominal aorta using a minimally invasive catheter-based technique. Instead of a traditional open surgical approach, the operation was performed through a small incision in the femoral artery in the groin, and the devices were guided through the vascular system up into the aorta. With continuous X-ray and contrast imaging guidance, we precisely determined the correct position and then implanted a special vascular prosthesis, the so-called stent graft.
The stent graft expands inside the vessel, creating a new, safe pathway for blood flow, allowing blood to circulate freely while excluding the dilated, ruptured section from circulation. This eliminates the source of bleeding and stabilizes the patient’s condition. In emergency cases, fast and accurate sizing—based on imaging studies—is critically important,” said vascular surgeon Dr. Péter Ferenc Nagy of the Department of Surgery at the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen to hirek.unideb.hu.
A major advantage of the procedure is that, compared to traditional large open abdominal surgery, it places less strain on the body, causes less tissue trauma, and can be performed more quickly. This is especially important in life-threatening emergency situations where every minute counts.
“The coordinated and rapid work of vascular surgeons, anesthesiologists, and supporting staff was essential for the procedure, and played a key role in the patient’s care. This emergency EVAR operation demonstrates that the clinic’s well-prepared vascular surgery team, supported by state-of-the-art technological and radiological infrastructure, is capable of responding to even the most severe cases 24 hours a day. This event is not only a single intervention, but also the starting point of a system-level development in the region’s healthcare provision. The fact that this procedure is available at our institution at all times ensures the highest level of patient safety for the population of the region,” said Associate Professor Dezső Tóth, Director of the Department of Surgery at the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen.
The successful on-call operation and the subsequent infrastructure development—ensuring stocked inventory—guarantee that, thanks to the most modern procedures, more patients suffering from aortic rupture will receive a life-saving chance for recovery in the future.
“Previously, performing emergency EVAR was hindered by the time-consuming procurement of custom-sized stent grafts. However, an on-site, immediately available stock now ensures that there is no waiting time: the implants are available when the patient arrives. From now on, emergency endovascular intervention will be part of the clinical protocol, and experienced on-call vascular surgeons will be able to perform it safely,” added Dezső Tóth.
With this operation, the Department of Surgery of the Clinical Center of the University of Debrecen has strengthened its position as a leading vascular surgery center in the Eastern Hungarian region.
(unideb.hu)
