Traumatic aneurysms and arteriovenous fistula of the upper limb

Nine patients with false aneurysms of the upper limb and one with arteriovenous fistula were treated in the Lagos University Teaching Hospital during a 5-year period. Eight patients were males and two females, age range 9 to 60 years with a mean of 27.8 years. The cause of the injury was broken glass--4, cudgel--4, industrial metal--1, unknown--1. Five aneurysms occurred in the radial artery, three in the axillary-subclavian-innominate arteries and one was in an unspecified artery of the hand. The tenth patient had an arteriovenous fistula in the right axillary artery. The surgical procedures performed were restorative endoaneurysmorrhaphy, excision and end to end arterial anastomosis, excision and arterial ligation, and reversed autogenous vein graft. The end result of the surgical operations was considered good in five patients and satisfactory in two. Median nerve deficits from compression returned to normal after aneurysm repair in two patients.