Axillary Vessels and Brachial Plexus Traumas in Abidjan: Lesional Aspects and Surgical Difficulties

Abstract

Introduction-Objectives: Through the presentation of epidemiological, anatomo-clinical and surgical aspects, we report our experience in the management of traumatic axillary lesions. Materials and Methods: A descriptive retrospective study was based on the medical records of patients who suffered vascular axillary and/or brachial plexus trauma and who underwent surgical repair at the Abidjan Cardiology Institute from January 2008 to June 2022. Epidemiological, anatomo-clinical and surgical data were studied. Results: Thirty-four medical files belonging to 33 men and one woman, aged 32 on average, were collected. The circumstances of occurrence were dominated by the stab wound (n = 22). The combinations of injuries were as follows: associated involvement of the axillary artery and vein (n = 4); isolated involvement of axillary artery (n = 3); isolated involvement of the axillary vein (n = 2); associated involvement of the axillary artery and brachial plexus (n = 17); associated involvement of the axillary artery and vein and brachial plexus (n = 08). Anatomic lesions included acute arterial lesions (n = 29) and arteriovenous fistula (n = 1) and false aneurysms (n = 4). All patients were operated on under general anesthesia; vascular repair included direct suturing (n = 16), arterial and venous bypass using a long saphenous graft (n = 9), prosthetic arterial bypass (n = 5) and prosthetic flattening-graft (n = 4). Brachial plexus surgery consisted of an end-to-end anastomosis of each transected bundle in all cases (n = 25). The medium-term postoperative course was marked by success without functional sequelae in 88.24% of cases (n = 30