Arterial Injuries below the Knee

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Clinical features of tibial and peroneal artery injuries are characterized in a review of 51 patients with 82 injured arteries. Injuries were penetrating in 34 (67%) and blunt in 17 (33%). Physical findings suggested arterial injuries in 42 (82%) patients, but 9 had no signs of vascular trauma. Nineteen patients with no palpable distal pulses had average preoperative delays of nearly 5 h, suggesting a lack of appreciation for the morbid potential of these injuries. Operations included ligations of single-vessel injuries and arterial reconstructions in the 21 (41%) patients with 2 or more injured vessels. Amputations were necessary in 8 (16%) patients. Limb loss was more frequent with blunt trauma (23%), shotgun wounds (33%), initial absent pulses (32%) and 3 injured vessels (60%). The frequency of limb loss with these injuries emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis, expedient operation and thorough revascularization.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: