Analysis of peripheral vascular injuries: A social catastrophe

Objective:In the current study, peripheral vascular injuries caused from weapons and the associated clinical outcomes were retrospectively investigated.\udMethods:Two hundred patients who received a surgical procedure for a vascular injury between January 2009 and December 2011 were included in the study. The patients were evaluated retrospectively; type of injury, localization, characteristics, and type of surgical application were classified.\udResults: Weapon-related penetrating injuries were classified as gunshot injuries (n=55, 28%), stab wounds (n =143, 71%), and mine injuries (n= 2, 1%). There were 77 interposition applications (71 arterial and 6 venous) with saphene vein grafts, 16 arterial interposition applications with polytetrafluoroethylene grafts, and 11 venous ligations. A total of 170 direct repairs (134 arterial and 36 venous) were performed. Postoperative amputation was required in none of the cases, advanced intensive care unit\udfollow-up was required for four patients (2%; two cases\udwere referred with hypovolemic shock and two case were\udreferred with asystole), and a postoperative follow-up period for any mortality was not observed.\udConclusion:Some regions contain higher levels of warinjuries. Therefore, these regions require specialized intervention centres. A large amount of these injuries arevascular, and surgery and rapid interventions are essential for reducing mortality and morbidity rates. Successful results can be obtained in these cases through the collaboration of various medical disciplines.\u