Blunt injury to the common iliac artery

Abstract

Objectives and design: Iliac artery lesion after blunt trauma is uncommon, with only 12 previously reported cases. We report nine patients treated in two French teaching hospitals over a six-year period. Mechanism, symptomatology, treatment and outcome were analysed. Material and method: All patients were male with a mean (range) age of 29 (16-43) years. Median delay to operative repair was 15 days. Through an extraperitoneal approach PTFE grafts were used in five cases and autogenous graft in four. Results: Morbidity was 22%. Reoperation was necessary in two cases at a mean follow-up of 48 months, at which time all patients were asymptomatic with normal pulses. Conclusion: Clinicians should be alert to the possibility of this injury. An arteriography for Doppler ultrasound should be performed. Treatment is mainly surgical and produces excellent long-term results.