Bedside Duplex Ultrasonography Identifies Multiple Pseudoaneurysms in a Penetrating Extremity Trauma

Abstract

A 14-year-old boy sustained an accidental self-inflected stab wound to the calf injuring both the posterior and anterior tibial arteries. On physical examination, pedal pulses were palpable and no obvious sign of arterial injury was identified. It was only after noninvasive duplex ultrasonography that multiple pseudoaneurysms were identified. The patient was taken to the operating room where reversed saphenous vein interposition grafts were used to repair both injuries. Therefore, use of bedside vascular duplex ultrasonography has the ability to expedite patient care.