Performance of a novel temporary arterial shunt in a military-relevant controlled hemorrhage swine model.

Background: In military trauma, temporary vascular shunts restore arterial continuity until delayed vascular reconstruction, often for a period of hours. A novel US Air Force-developed trauma-specific vascular injury shunt (TS-VIS) incorporates an accessible side port for intervention or monitoring, which may improve patency under adverse hemodynamic conditions. Our objective was to evaluate TS-VIS patency in the setting of volume-limited resuscitation from hemorrhagic shock.

Methods: Female swine (70-90 kg) underwent 30% hemorrhage and occlusion of the left external iliac artery for 30 minutes. Animals were allocated to one of three groups (n = 5 per group) by left external iliac artery treatment: Sundt shunt (SUNDT), TS-VIS with arterial pressure monitoring (TS-VIS), or TS-VIS with heparin infusion (10 μ/kg per hour, TS-VISHep). Animals were resuscitated with up to 3 U of whole blood to maintain a mean arterial pressure (MAP) of >60 mm Hg and were monitored for 6 hours. Bilateral femoral arterial flow was continuously monitored with transonic flow probes, and shunt thrombosis was defined as the absence of flow for greater than 5 minutes.

Results: No intergroup differences in MAP or flow were observed at baseline or following hemorrhage. Animals were hypotensive at shunt placement (MAP, 35.5 ± 7.3 mm Hg); resuscitation raised MAP to >60 mm Hg by 26.5 ± 15.5 minutes. Shunt placement required 4.5 ± 1.8 minutes with no difference between groups. Four SUNDT thrombosed (three before 60 minutes). One SUNDT thrombosed at 240 minutes, and two TS-VIS and one TS-VISHep thrombosed between 230 and 282 minutes. Median patency was 21 minutes for SUNDT and 360 minutes for both TS-VIS groups (p = 0.04). While patent, all shunts maintained flow between 60% and 90% of contralateral.

Conclusion: The TS-VIS demonstrated sustained patency superior to the Sundt under adverse hemodynamic conditions. No benefit was observed by the addition of localized heparin therapy over arterial pressure monitoring by the TS-VIS side port.