[Injuries to arteries during osteosynthesis of the femur]

Three patients were operated upon for a damage of the main vessels with a pin during osteosynthesis of the femoral bone. Two patients had a wound of the femoral vessels resulting from using the Ilizarov apparatus. The third patient had an injured external iliac artery during synthesis of the femoral neck with a nail. The main symptom of the injured femoral artery was hemorrhage from the pin canal in soft tissues. In two cases perforations in the vascular wall were sutured and in one case angioplasty was performed thrice without a success and was completed by ligation of the superficial femoral artery.