Objective: Diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac interventions have being performed in expanding numbers during last years. Forty-two cases with peripheral vascular injuries requiring surgical therapy after 64.911 cardiac interventions in our center between 1985 and 2002 were evaluated retrospectively.
Methods: Thirty-three of vascular injuries (78.6%) occurred after angiography/catheterization, and the remaining vascular injuries (21.4%) occurred after angioplasty/stent procedures. There were 12 female (28.6%) and 30 male (71.4%). The mean age was 51.3+/-4.1 years. The localization of the arterial injuries were femoral region in 37 cases (88.1%) and brachial region in 5 cases (11.9%). The complications were recorded as arterial thrombosis in 19 cases, pseudoaneurysm in 14 cases, hematoma in 5 cases, arteriovenous fistula in 2 cases, deformed stent stuck in 2 cases. Arterial injuries were treated by performing embolectomy in 16 cases, embolectomy and saphenous patch plasty in 3 cases, resection of pseudoaneurysm and PTFE patch plasty in 1 case, draining of hematoma and primary repair in 5 cases, primary repair of femoral arteriovenous fistula in 2 cases and removal of the deformed stent from femoral artery in 2 cases.
Results: The incidence of vascular complications was significantly higher in brachial interventions when compared with femoral interventions (p<0.0001). The postoperative morbidity was found as 14.3% in our cases.
Conclusion: The early diagnosis and treatment are very important in peripheral vascular complications after cardiac interventions; otherwise, delay can cause loss of related extremity.