A decade of civilian vascular trauma in Kosovo

PURPOSE We 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 METHODS We 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. RESULTS The 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%. CONCLUSION Injuries 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.