Management of subclavian and innominate artery injuries

Subclavian and innominate arterial injuries are life-threatening and require aggressive treatment. Physical findings, chest x-ray examinations, and a high index of suspicion led to expoloration in seventeen of twenty-two patients in this series, but the selective use of arteriography is helpful. Primary repair was accomplished in nineteen of the twenty-two patients. Wide proximal exposure proved to be accompanied by little morbidity with the reward of increasing survival to 95.5 per cent.