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Obturator artery injury after hip fracture surgery
Radoslav Morochovič1, Rastislav Burda, Carroll Christie
1Department of Trauma Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of P.J. Šafarik, Košice - Slovak Republic. rado17@post.sk
Abstract:
We present the case of a 55-year-old woman who sustained a left femoral neck fracture which was managed by insertion of a dynamic hip screw. Six hours after surgery, distension appeared in the left lower quadrant of her abdomen associated with a decline in haemoglobin concentration and clinical signs of ongoing bleeding. Computed tomography showed a left retroperitoneal mass without concomitant extravasation of contrast material. Exploratory laparotomy revealed a damaged left obturator artery with a large haematoma in its vicinity. After arterial ligation and retroperitoneal space decompression her postoperative course was uneventful. Reviewing intraoperative C arm images a 0.8 cm protrusion of the threaded guide wire was identified as the cause of obturator artery damage.
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