Emergency room arteriography: an updated digital technology.

Area of Science:

• Vascular Surgery
• Trauma Imaging
• Radiology

Background:

• Emergency room arteriography (ERA) is a standard for diagnosing arterial injuries but struggles with distal vasculature assessment.
• Statscan, a novel low-dose digital X-ray, offers rapid whole-body imaging.
• Evaluating Statscan's utility in enhancing ERA for trauma patients was the objective.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the role and effectiveness of Statscan technology in assisting emergency room arteriography (ERA).
• To determine if Statscan improves the evaluation of arterial injuries, particularly distal to the injury site.

Main Methods:

• A 24-month retrospective review of Statscan-assisted ERA procedures was conducted.
• Patients included were hemodynamically stable with hard signs of vascular injury and a threatened limb.
• Exclusion criteria included hemodynamic instability, massive bleeding, or rapidly expanding hematoma.

Main Results:

• Ten patients with lower limb vascular injuries underwent Statscan-assisted ERA.
• Common femoral, superficial femoral, and popliteal artery injuries were identified.
• Statscan detected distal arterial emboli in two patients, leading to further exploration and embolectomy, altering care in 20% of cases.

Conclusions:

• Statscan-assisted ERA is a safe, rapid, and accurate method for diagnosing arterial injuries.
• The technology excels at visualizing vasculature distal to the injury site, directly impacting patient management.
• Statscan ERA helped avoid unnecessary operations in 30% of patients with normal arteriograms.