Delayed Presentation Of Missed Vascular Injuries And Pitfalls In Primary Treatment– Experience Of A Vascular Surgery Unit In Pakistan

Abstract

Objective: To analyze errors in primary treatment of vascular injuries and delayed presentations of missed vascular injuries as a surrogate indicator of need for improved vascular surgical training of upcoming general surgeons. Materials and methods: This retrospective observational study was carried out at vascular surgery department of two tertiary care hospitals of Armed Forces from Jan 2012 to June 2017. Hospital records of all patients with vascular trauma were analyzed for presence of pitfalls in primary treatment and delayed presentation of missed vascular injuries which resulted in redo surgeries or adverse outcomes. Results: Out of 256 patients with vascular injury sequel 41 had either a problem in primary treatment or presented with delayed complications of missed injuries. The omissions can be divided into: missed injuries (24/41), technical errors in initial repair (12/24), reperfusion of mangled Extremity (3/41) and non availability of a surgeon capable of undertaking vascular repair. The commonest operative fault was failure to debride the vessel adequately and vascular repair under tension. The commonest primary assessment problem was failure to timely appreciate hard signs of vascular injury. Conclusion: With better training and emphasizing the need of thorough clinical examination outcome of vascular trauma can be improved