Blunt injuries to the carotid and vertebral arteries

A small series of patients with blunt injury to eigher a carotid or vertebral artery is presented. In three patients the injury was recognized relatively promptly. Two underwent surgery and one was observed with reasonably good results. In two patients the injury was unrecognized, resulting in death in one patient and in a severe, fixed, long-term neurologic deficit in the other. It appears likely that reconstruction may be the treatment of choice in any patient with angiographically proven injury unless coma or severe dense hemiplegia is present.