Successful limb salvage beyond the golden time following blunt traumatic open complete transection of the femoral artery and vein in a patient with cardiac arrest: a case report

Background Open complete transection of the femoral artery and vein following blunt trauma is extremely rare. Furthermore, even if the patient has been successfully resuscitated, it is sometimes difficult in most patients to preserve the injured limb, especially after damage control resuscitation. We report a case of open complete transection of the femoral artery and vein secondary to high-energy blunt trauma and a successful limb preservation treatment strategy. Case presentation A 57-year-old Asian man was transferred to hospital after having fallen from the 15th floor of a condominium. The patient was in cardiac arrest at the scene, but was successfully resuscitated by emergency medical services staff. On arrival, the patient’s hemodynamics were completely collapsed with active external bleeding from the thigh, so we immediately started resuscitation including activation of massive transfusion protocol and temporarily ligated the transected proximal superficial femoral artery, deep femoral artery just distal after branching lateral femoral circumflex artery and the superficial femoral vein. Following radiological findings showing a potential pelvic fracture with active bleeding, we also performed retroperitoneal packing in the resuscitation room and moved the patient to the angiography room for transcatheter arterial embolization. The patient’s consciousness was preserved and perfusion of the injured limb was barely maintained after his hemodynamics were adequately stabilized. As we detected weak perfusion of the lower limb via a potential collateral flow from the lateral femoral circumflex artery branches from deep femoral artery by pulse doppler of the dorsal pedis artery, we decided to reconstruct superficial femoral artery and vein at 24 h after injury using great saphenous vein bypass grafts. The patient was transferred to a rehabilitation hospital with good neurological and limb outcome after hospitalization for 52 days. Conclusion We successfully preserved the patient’s lower limb after cardiac arrest and complete transection of the femoral artery and vein and achieved a good neurological outcome. Even if a femoral artery needs to be ligated temporarily, careful observation and assessment should be performed so as not to lose the chance to salvage the limb even during damage control resuscitation.

Preliminary Experience of Autologous Free Dermal Graft Combined With Free Myocutaneous Flap in the Treatment of Refractory Bronchopleural Fistula With Empyema

Background: To explore the effects of autologous free dermal graft combined with free myocutaneous flap on bronchopleural fistula with empyema. Methods: Two patients with refractory empyema and bronchopleural fistula were treated with autologous free dermal graft combined with free myocutaneous flap. The free dermal graft was harvested from the skin around the incision and the fistula was sutured intermittently. The lateral femoral myocutaneous flap was selected as the free flap. Using microsurgery techniques, the descending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery and the thoracodorsal blood vessel were anastomosed intermittently to maintain the blood supply of the myocutaneous flap. After surgery, the empyema, air leakage, and the survival of the myocutaneous flap were observed. Results: No necrosis of the myocutaneous flap was observed after surgery. There was no disease recurrence after follow-up for seven and six months, respectively. Re-examination of the chest computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging indicated that the empyema residual cavity had disappeared. Conclusion: Autologous free dermal graft combined with free lateral femoral myocutaneous flap transplantation is effective in the treatment of patients with bronchopleural fistula with refractory chronic empyema, with satisfactory clinical effects.

TO INVESTIGATE BRANCHED ANATOMICAL FEATURES OF THE LATERAL FEMORAL CIRCUMFLEX ARTERY USED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE COMPOSITE ANTEROLATERAL THIGH (ALT) FLAP

Introduction: The research of the lateral femoral circumflex artery has been studied and applied in many clinical fields. Objectives: To investigate branched anatomical features of the lateral femoral circumflex artery used in the construction of the composite anterolateral thigh (ALT) flap. Patients and research methods: 60 thigh areas of 30 Vietnamese adult cadavers meeting the research standards were conducted cross-sectional descriptive analysis. Result: lateral femoral circumflex artery usually has three branches that are ascending branch, oblique branch and descending branch. Descending branch usually separated independently (11.7%), oblique branch and ascending branch often have common body (83.3%). The majority of ascending branches have origin from lateral femoral circumflex (76.7%). Ascending branche has average of 4.1 branches to supply the anterior thigh muscles. Ascending branches has 2-3 cutaneous perforators were the majority (41.7%). There are 73 descending branch, 75.34% descending branch from the original branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery, 8.22% lateral femoral circumflex artery from femoral artery and 16.44% descending branch from deep femoral artery. Averaging descending branch has 8.9 ± 0.2 branches to muscles of anteriolateral thigh area and on average had 3.1 ± 0.3 perforators per thigh specimen. The number of branches to lateralis muscles was at most 7.9 ± 0.4 branhes. Conclusion: Anatomical research of the lateral femoral circumflex artery branching as a premise to build a composite ALT flaps with lateralis component or with TFL makes sense in the creation of workhorse materials in clinical application. Key words: lateral femoral circumflex artery

Tensor Fasciae Lata for Groin Reconstruction

Because the groin combines elements of myofascial strength, which influences the integrity of the abdominal cavity, with the role of being a conduit for neurovascular structures to the lower limb, reconstruction demands that the repair be strong as well as provide adequate soft tissue to protect these structures. The tensor fasciae lata (TFL) flap is supplied by the transverse or ascending branch of the lateral femoral circumflex artery. It is usually used as a pedicled flap and reaches the trochanteric area and the groin. It is one of the workhorse flaps for treatment of decubitus ulcers and is very durable. The flap consists of skin and fascia lata. The fascial component can be extended to include more fascia while still allowing closure of the skin donor defect

Curious case of a true aneurysm of the lateral femoral circumflex artery: a rare but important differential in the diagnosis of a painless groin mass

A 60-year-old man, presented with a 3-month history of a painless, non-pulsatile firm mass in the left groin. He was referred to sarcoma clinic for a biopsy following MRI and B mode ultrasound (US). This was abandoned when colour flow US imaging revealed the mass more in keeping with a pseudoaneurysm rather than malignancy. He was then referred to the vascular team for further investigation, where CT angiography revealed a large and thrombosed true aneurysm of his left femoral circumflex artery. This was treated with open surgical repair. Technical challenges included an adherent femoral nerve, which was carefully dissected off the aneurysm before the aneurysm was ligated and resected. An uneventful recovery followed with discharge within 48 hours. Follow-up duplex US scan revealed patent arteries with no further abnormalities.