Traumatic aneurysm of the digital artery: a diagnostic problem

True Aneurysm of the Ulnar Artery in a Soccer Goalkeeper

“…Pulsation is present in half of the cases, 5,25 and generally no bruit and thrill are elicited. 12,14 Pain usually accompanies the mass but distal circulation is often unchanged. 6 Rarely does the aneurysm compress the nerves, causing digital sensory changes.…”

“…The ulnar artery is usually the major artery of the hand, but the presence of good collateral circulation allows for removal of the lesion with proximal and distal ligation without impairment of circulation. 3,5,12 Nevertheless, there is controversy over whether an aneurysm of the hand artery should be repaired or simply treated with ligature. 7,19,20,26 End-to-end anastomosis has been performed, and reversed interposition vein graft has also been proposed 1,12,21,24 ; however, distal embolization after microanastomosis has been reported.…”

“…Aneurysms of the ulnar artery have been found in manual laborers who repetitively use a hammer, a screwdriver, or other tool against fixed objects and in athletes who receive repetitive blunt injury to the hand. 8,12,13 Smokers are particularly at high risk because tobacco may have deleterious effects on the arterial vasculature when superimposed on an aneurysmal defect. Aneurysms are generally located in the superficial segment of the ulnar artery at the level of the carpal hamate bone and may be true or false.…”

“…10 The true aneurysm often follows a blunt injury of the hand, whereas a false aneurysm generally results from a penetrating artery injury. 7,12…”