Surgical Embolectomy for Acute Pulmonary Embolism: Systematic Review and Comprehensive Meta-Analyses

Rajat Kalra, Navkaranbir S. Bajaj, Pankaj Arora, Garima Arora, William A. Crosland, David C. McGiffin, Mustafa I. Ahmed

Research output: Contribution to journalReview ArticleResearchpeer-review

43 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Surgical pulmonary embolectomy (SPE) is a viable treatment approach for subsets of patients with acute pulmonary embolism. However, outcomes data are limited. We sought to characterize mortality and safety outcomes for this population. Studies reporting inhospital mortality for patients undergoing SPE for acute pulmonary embolism were included. In 56 eligible studies, we found 1,579 patients who underwent 1,590 SPE operations. The pooled inhospital all-cause mortality rate was 26.3% (95% confidence interval: 22.5% to 30.5%). Surgical site complications occurred in 7.0% of operations (95% confidence interval: 4.9% to 9.8%). More investigation is required to define the patient population that would benefit the most from SPE.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)982-990
Number of pages9
JournalThe Annals of Thoracic Surgery
Volume103
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2017

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