A Case Report: Nursing Interventions of a Patient with Type B Aortic Dissection

Abstract

Aortic dissection is a rare medical condition in which a tear of the aortic wall occurs. Type B aortic dissection occurs in the descending aorta and is a challenging medical emergency in the human circulatory system and may have serious complications such as renal failure, arterial dilatation or rupture, visceral branch hypo perfusion, and compromise of aneurism exclusion. Elderly patients greater than the age of 70 years with type B aortic dissection have the most striking mortality rate. A seventy-year-old woman with a history of acute aortic aneurysm began her illness with sudden onset generalized abdominal pain and back pain, vomiting, and loose stool and was admitted to the hospital. After careful analysis of the results of diagnostic tests, the patient was diagnosed with type B aortic dissection with kidney failure. Criteria to manage this patient with type B aortic dissection included reducing blood pressure on the aortic walls, relieving pain, and helping prevent tears from worsening. Nursing care provided for this patient included psychological support, close observation of vital signs and other discomforts to identify the signs of complications, administration of IV morphine infusion for relieving pain with the close observation, administration of medicine, and maintaining intake output of the patient to reduce blood pressure and prevent worsening of vascular and renal complications. All recommended management was continued but suddenly, the patient became unconscious and had a cardiac arrest. Even though maximal resuscitation efforts were taken, the patient died.