Acute ischemia of the limb in a newborn treated successfully by thrombectomy

A seven day old dehydrated male infant was found to have acute ischemia of the leg due to acute thrombotic occlusion of an external iliac, common and superficial femoral, and popliteal arteries. Early thrombectomy and arterioplasty resulted in complete remission of ischemia. Our success with direct vascular surgery prompts us to recommend this form of treatment in preventing neonatal gangrene. To our knowledge, this is the first report of successful thrombectomy in a newborn infant.