"<i>Festina lente</i>" — a multicenter study on the outcomes of carotid endarterectomy, depending on vessel suturing speed

Abstract

Aim. Analysis of inhospital and long-term outcomes of conventional carotid endarterectomy (CEA) depending on vessel suturing speed.Material and methods. The present prospective multicenter study for the period from March 1, 2017 to October 1, 2020 included 2366 patients who underwent conventional CEA with patch angioplasty. Depending on the time required to apply 1 stitch, 4 groups of patients were formed: group 1 (n=471; 19,9%) — 1 stitch per 2 seconds; group 2 (n=865; 36,5%) — 1 stitch per 3 seconds; group 3 (n=692; 29,2%) — 1 stitch per 4 seconds; group 4 (n=338; 14,3%) — 1 stitch per 5 seconds. The term "stitch" refers to two needle punctures. The follow-up postoperative period was 18,5±11,0 months.Results. There were no deaths and myocardial infarctions (MI) in the inhospital postoperative period. In group 1, anastomotic bleeding (n=93; 19,7%; p<0,0001) and stroke (n=3; 0,63%; p=0,02) due to internal carotid artery (ICA) thrombosis were more common. In the long-term follow-up period, there were no significant differences in mortality and MI rates. However, ICA restenosis requiring repeated CEA (n=37; 7,85%; p<0,0001) and related stroke/transient ischemic attack (n=13; 2,8%; p=0,0001) were more often diagnosed in 1 group of patients. According to Kaplan-Meier curves, restenosis was most often revealed 6 months after CEA in the general sample.Conclusion. 1. Vessel suturing at a speed of 1 stitch per 2 seconds is associated with an increased risk of intraoperative ICA thrombosis, bleeding along the anastomosis, stroke, as well as restenosis and stroke in the long-term follow-up period. 2. Vessel suturing at a speed of 1 stitch per 5 seconds is not accompanied by an increase in inhospital stroke rate, despite the maximum ICA occlusion time relative to other groups of patients. 3. Vessel suturing at a speed of 1 stitch per 3 or 4 seconds characterized by the lowest incidence of all complications at the inhospital and long-term stages of postoperative follow-up.