Case Reports
Repair of a Vascular Injury Associated With a Pediatric Femur Fracture
Am J Orthop. 2009 March;38(3):E61-E63
Author and Disclosure Information
Alfred Atanda, Jr., MD, Carl Magnus Wahlgren, MD, PhD, Giancarlo Piano, MD, and Christopher M. Sullivan, MD, MPH
Dr. Atanda is Chief Resident, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Chicago Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Wahlgren is Vascular Surgeon, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
Dr. Piano is Assistant Professor, Division of Vascular Surgery, and Dr. Sullivan is Assistant Professor, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Chicago Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.
Abstract not available. Introduction provided instead.
Pediatric vascular injuries are relatively uncommon. The risk for such injuries in the setting of blunt, orthopedic trauma is quite variable depending on the extremity involved. In regards to the thigh, there have been few reports of pediatric vascular disturbances resulting from femur fractures, blunt trauma, and benign neoplasms; however, none of these injuries required repair. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a child under age 15 who sustained an isolated femur fracture from blunt trauma that led to a vascular injury that required repair.