Antithrombotic therapy has no beneficial effect in conservative treatment of spontaneous isolated superior mesenteric arterial dissection.

PURPOSE

Initial conservative treatment with selective endovascular or surgical intervention has shown successful outcomes in the treatment of spontaneous isolated superior mesenteric artery dissection (SISMAD). However, the benefits of antithrombotic therapy as a part of conservative treatment have not been clarified. This study aimed to investigate the clinical course of SISMAD patients and determine differences in clinical outcomes between the antithrombotic and no-antithrombotic groups.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed 79 cases of SISMAD that were treated conservatively from January 2004 to December 2019 at Chonnam National University Hospital. Clinical outcomes, including the length of hospital stay, pain resolution time, image remodeling, and maximal remodeling time, were compared between the antithrombotic and no-antithrombotic groups.

RESULTS

There were 30 patients in the no-antithrombotic group and 49 patients in the antithrombotic group. There was no significant difference in clinical characteristics between the 2 groups, except for dyslipidemia (P = 0.011). The follow-up period (32.6 months 14.6 months, P = 0.009) and imaging follow-up period (31.6 months 13.9 months, P = 0.011) were longer in the antithrombotic group than in the no-antithrombotic group. The length of hospital stay (5.1 days 7.7 days, P = 0.002) was significantly shorter in the no-antithrombotic group than in the antithrombotic group because patients in the antithrombotic group required longer hospitalization for warfarin titration.

CONCLUSION

In patients with SISMAD, conservative treatment without antithrombotic therapy may have clinical benefits such as decreased length of hospital stay compared with conservative treatment with antithrombotic therapy.