Acute common femoral arterial trauma

1) Acute common femoral arterial injuries remain relatively uncommon in both military and civilian practice. 2) The recent experience in Vietnam has provided the most complete statistics regarding this type of injury. Among 1,000 acute major arterial injuries, the incidence of common femoral arterial trauma was approximately 5%. This present study reports 109 acute common femoral arterial injuries. Nearly two thirds of the injuries were caused by fragments and slightly more than one half of the injuries were lacerations. It was possible to perform autogenous vein graft repairs in about 57%, end-to-end anastomoses in about 25%, and lateral suture repair in about 10% of the injuries. Prosthetic material was used in only three repairs. 3) The overall complication rate was 28.3%, the amputation rate was 13.2%, and the mortality rate was 2.8%. 4) In the treatment of iatrogenic injuries associated with diagnostic catheterizations of the common femoral artery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, there were no complications and no mortalities.