[Acute upper limb embolism in a severely burned patient]

Thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms are the most common complications in the hospital. The need for anticoagulation during hospital stay is obligatory. Arterial embolisms are rare. They often take place in patients with a pre-existing peripheral artery occlusive disease or in patients with atrial fibrillation. The most common complications in burn patients are wound infection, pneumonia, catheter-associated infections and paralytic ileus. There are almost no data available regarding arterial embolism in burn patients. Therefore we would like to present the case of a 60-year-old woman who was injured by a fire at home and was transported to our special burn unit. She sustained partial thickness burns of both legs and buttocks. The TBSA was 15%. During the first days of clinical stay the patient suffered from a pain induced movement reduction of the left hand. There were no peripheral pulses palpable or by pulsed-wave Doppler detectable. An urgent selected angiography of the left arm was performed and a arterial embolism of the proximal part of the a. brachialis was detected. The patient was operated immediately. After debridement and split-skin graft of the burn wounds the patient was taken to rehabiliation after 35 days.