Case Series of Patients With Intermediate-High Risk Pulmonary Embolism in the Setting of Trauma Undergoing Mechanical Thrombectomy

In patients with pulmonary embolism (PE) in the setting of trauma, administration of fibrinolytic therapy is con-traindicated due to high risk of hemorrhage. Several studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of me-chanical thrombectomy among all-comers with PE as an alternative to catheter-directed thrombolytics. However, the risks and benefits of mechanical thrombectomy treatment for pulmonary embolism in a trauma population are not well established. A retrospective analysis was performed in all patients who presented to Level 1 Trauma Center with acute trauma who were found to have a pulmonary embolism (PE) treated with me-chanical thrombectomy. From May 2019 to December 2020, six patients were identified. Average age was 54 years, and four patients were male. Four patients had a saddle PE on computed tomography. All patients had an intermediate-high risk PE with troponin I elevation >0.04 ng/mL (average 0.42 ng/mL). Pulmonary Em-bolism Severity Index (PESI) score in all six patients was class III or IV. In all patients, the mechanical thrombec-tomy was performed with mean-PA pressure changing from average 40.33 to 31.5 mmHg. Average Intensive Care Unit (ICU) length of stay post-procedure was five days with two patients not requiring ICU stay. No patient had post-operative bleeding during their index stay. Average hemoglobin drop after mechanical thrombectomy was 1.33 g/dL. One patient died <30 days post-procedure due to septic shock and another >90 days later (5 months) from cardiac arrest from recurrent PE. The other four patients were still living >90 days post-procedure. No im-mediate or delayed postoperative complications were identified. Mechanical thrombectomy appears to be a safe and effective treatment for patients with recent trauma who have an intermediate-high risk pulmonary embolism. Published by Elsevier Inc.