Characteristics and treatment of vascular injuries: a review of 387 cases at a Chinese center

Objective: To assess clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients with vascular injuries.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 378 consecutive patients with vascular injuries treated at our hospital from January 2000 to December 2012. Basic characteristics (such as gender; age; cause, site, and type of injury; and concomitant injuries) were recorded, and efficacy was compared between treatments for same type/site injuries.

Results: Vascular injuries occurred most frequently in patients aged 19-50 years, secondary to trauma, and in extremities (73%, 63%, and 84% of cases, respectively), particularly lower ones. Amputation was more common in popliteal artery injury (52.6% of cases); overall, inappropriate diagnosis or treatment or poor vascular anastomosis led to amputation in 17 cases. Extremity vascular patency, while comparable at 12 months, was significantly lower at 24 months after artificial blood-vessel implantation than autogenous vein grafting. Treatment of femoral artery pseudoaneurysm secondary to drug abuse yielded similar amputation but significantly lower limb ischemia rates after bypass graft surgery than arterial ligation.

Conclusion: Initial and temporal outcome differentiation reported here for treatments for peripheral vascular injuries according to type and site underscores the importance of further defining treatment choice consequences, particularly long term ones because most affected patients are aged 19-50 years old.