Recurrent ulnar artery aneurysm of the palm after venous grafting: a case report

Abstract

Aneurysms of the ulnar artery and its palmar arch are usually rare events, which are mostly related to repetitive trauma of the extremity. This syndrome is also known as hypothenar hammer syndrome, which presents two pathologic entities: the aneurysmal type and the thrombotic type. Whereas surgical treatment is not necessary within the thrombotic type, it is the gold standard to treat aneurysms of the palm with resection of the aneurysm and reconstruction of the vessel with either end-to-end anastomosis, venous or arterial grafts. We report a case of a young male patient with an aneurysm of the right ulnar artery at the wrist with history of repetitive trauma. Reconstruction with a venous forearm graft showed recurrence of the aneurysm after 2 years from surgery. The authors want to elaborate an algorithm for surgical treatment to make the right decision for choice of reconstruction.