Crural artery traumatic injuries: treatment with embolization

Area of Science:

• Vascular Surgery
• Interventional Radiology
• Trauma Management

Background:

• Crural arterial injuries result from penetrating trauma.
• These injuries can lead to significant morbidity if not treated promptly.
• Endovascular techniques offer a less invasive treatment option.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report experience with endovascular treatment of crural arterial injuries.
• To evaluate transcatheter and direct embolization techniques.
• To assess outcomes of minimally invasive repair for lower extremity vascular trauma.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of eight patients treated over 7 years.
• Endovascular embolization using coils, thrombin injection, or liquid n-butyl cyanoacrylate.
• Vessel sacrifice in seven cases, two vessels in one case.

Main Results:

• Successful exclusion of lesions in all patients.
• One minor complication (groin hematoma).
• No distal ischemia or amputations required.

Conclusions:

• Transcatheter embolization is effective for traumatic crural vessel injuries.
• Endovascular techniques provide a useful treatment option, alone or combined.
• Minimally invasive repair leads to favorable outcomes without amputation.