Acute Lower Extremity Ischemia Following Thoracotomy Owing to Arterial Tumor Emboli

Our patient is a 58-year-old woman with metastatic uterine leiomyosarcoma with prior resection found to have an isolated metastatic lesion in the upper lobe of the right lung. She underwent a thoracotomy with right upper and middle lobectomy. After her procedure, she developed acute ischemia of her left lower extremity secondary to an embolized tumor. The patient was treated with thrombectomy and fasciotomy, and she recovered without loss of function of the limb. A literature review demonstrates that acute limb ischemia secondary to tumor emboli remains a rare but potentially devastating complication of metastatic disease.