Treatment of limb arterial injuries caused by traffic accidents

Objective: To analyze the features, diagnosis and treatment of limb arterial injuries caused by traffic accidents. Methods: A total of 43 patients with limb arterial injury admitted in our department over the past 30 years (about 50% of them happened during the last 10 years) were analyzed retrospectively in this article. The popliteal, femoral and brachial arteries were mainly involved, accounting for 43.2 %, 20.5 % and 20.5 % respectively of all the involvements. There were 35 cases of open injury and 9 of close injury. The involved vessels were transected in 43.2 % of the cases and contused in 40.9 %. All the patients had various complications, such as fractures, dislocations and severe soft tissue injuries. The injured vessels were repaired by means of end to end anastomosis in 10 cases, autogenous vein graft in 23 cases and intraluminal hydraulic dilatation in 4 cases. Results: Successful limb salvage was achieved in 34 cases initially, whereas 10 amputations were carried out due to injuries to popliteal arteries in 7, femoral arteries in 2 and humeral artery in 1 and severe soft tissue damages in 9 cases. Twenty nine patients were followed up for 1 156 months, with the average of 48.8 months. There was good circulation in 22 cases and certain ischemia in 5 cases. Two amputations were carried out in the late stage because of popliteal artery thrombosis after repair in 2 cases. There was no death in this series. Conclusions: The limb arterial injuries caused by traffic accidents are severe and complicated. It is proposed that particular attentions should be paid to the features in diagnosis and treatment for this type of injury and special efforts should be made for both life saving and limb salvage.