Percutaneous puncture of the external carotid artery or its branches after surgical ligation.

PURPOSE To describe the technique and results of percutaneous puncture of the external carotid artery or one of its branches distal to a surgical arterial ligation. METHODS Forty-three patients underwent 64 embolization attempts by percutaneous arterial puncture distal to an external carotid artery ligation. The punctured arteries were the trunk of the external carotid artery in 31 patients, the internal maxillary artery in nine, the facial artery in nine, the lingual artery in eight, the occipital artery in four, and the superficial temporal artery in three. RESULTS In 64 attempts 57 were successful in one session, six were successful in two sessions, and one failed. Puncture-related complications were eight spontaneously resolving hematomas and six asymptomatic punctures of the internal carotid artery. CONCLUSION After surgical ligation of the external carotid artery or its branches, arterial puncture above the ligation allowed selective catheterization and endovascular occlusion of vascular lesions.