A decade of civilian vascular trauma in Kosovo

Abstract

PurposeWe sought to analyze the results of arterial injury management in a busy metropolitan vascular unit and risk factors associated with mortality and morbidity.Patients and methodsWe analyzed 120 patient with arterial injury treated between year 2000 and 2010 at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo. Seven of these years were prospective and three retrospective study.ResultsThe mechanism of arterial injury was stabbing 46.66%, gunshot wounds in 31.66%, blunt in 13.33%, and landmine in 8.33%. The most frequently injured vessel was the superficial femoral artery (25%), followed by the brachial artery (20.9%), crural arteries (13.1%), forearm arteries (14.3%), iliac arteries (7.5%), abdominal aorta (3.3%), common femoral artery (3.3%) and popliteal artery (3.3%). Associated injuries including bone, nerve and remote injury (affecting the head, chest, or abdomen) were present in 24.2% of patients. The decision to operate was made based on the presence of “hard signs” of vascular trauma. Arterial reconstruction was performed in 90.8% of patients, 5.8% of patients underwent primary amputation and 3.2% died on the operation table. Overall survival rate was 95.8%.ConclusionInjuries to the arteries are associated with significant mortality and morbidity. Mechanism of injury (blunt, gunshot, landmine or stub), hemodynamic stability at the admission, localization of injury, time from injury to flow restitution, associated injuries to the structures in the region and remote organs are critical factors influencing outcome.

Non-iatrogenic civilian vascular trauma in a well-defined geographical region in Finland

“…The most common mechanism of vascular trauma in the current cohort was penetrating trauma, which is in concordance with earlier reports [2,3,[5][6][7]. The proportion of penetrating injuries usually varies between 50 and 60 %, but in their paper on civilian vascular trauma in Kosovo, Jaha and co-writers [2] report the proportion to be as high as 85 %.…”

“…The proportion of penetrating injuries usually varies between 50 and 60 %, but in their paper on civilian vascular trauma in Kosovo, Jaha and co-writers [2] report the proportion to be as high as 85 %. In our material, the most common reason for penetrating trauma was leisure-time accidents.…”

“…Civilian vascular trauma is an uncommon, but potentially fatal injury [1][2][3][4]. Due to its rarity the true incidence and mortality of peacetime vascular trauma is yet to be determined.…”

“…Penetrating vascular injuries seem to predominate over blunt injuries as they constitute 50-85 % of all vascular traumas [2,3,[5][6][7]. However, according to some reports, there is a tendency for blunt injury mechanism being more common in patients with lower extremity arterial trauma [5].…”

Femoral Artery Injuries Due to Gunshot Injury in Somalia CivilWar Continues

“…2 Sepsis is the most important issue due to delayed access to health facilities for traumas (especially vascular trauma) for the civilians in the regions of civil war, such as Somalia. 3 The most common cause of vascular trauma in these areas is firearm and shrapnel injury. 4 The first intervention for these patients is very important to reduce blood loss and stabilize vital functions.…”