Abstract
Vascular complications in orthopedic surgery are rare, but potentially life threatening. We report a 79-year-old man with an iatrogenic bleeding of the deep femoral artery. The complication occurred while removing a broken femoral screw from an external fixator. A piece of the femur was cut out eventually to reach the bleeding site. This case report discusses possible risk factors for iatrogenic vascular complications of orthopedic surgery.
Highlights
Vascular complications in orthopedic surgery seldomly occur
Orthopaedic operations most commonly associated with vascular complications are knee arthroplasty, hip arthroplasty, spinal surgery, and knee arthroscopy
The popliteal artery is most often involved, followed by tibial, superficial femoral, iliac, common and profunda femoral arteries[2]. This case report describes the management of a massive bleeding of the deep femoral artery during an elective orthopaedic procedure
Summary
Vascular complications in orthopedic surgery seldomly occur. Parvizi et al[1] reported an 0,1% vascular incidence rate of 13517 patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty. The plate was replaced with a long T2 femoral nail that ended just distal to the knee joint. Five months later, this nail was replaced by an even longer nail as consolidation of the bone interposition had not yet occurred whereas the arthrodesis of the knee joint was incomplete. The femoral nail was removed as the distal locking screws caused pain. At this stage, all fractures had healed and the knee arthrodesis was complete (Figure 3). The patient currently mobilizes with the aid of a walking stick
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