Rupture of the common femoral artery during hip replacement surgery. A report of two cases.
Two cases are reported where the common femoral artery ruptured during hip replacement surgery. In both cases only the intimal and medial layers of the artery were injured, without profuse bleeding during the operation. The diagnosis of this type of lesion of the arterial wall can be delayed. The use of non-invasive Doppler ultrasound techniques for verifying arterial injury proved to be effective and the presence and degree of arterial insufficiency was easily estimated from distal blood pressure measurements. In both cases the femoral artery was then exposed with no preoperative angiography and the arterial damage was successfully repaired. If the classical signs of acute ischaemic lesion are observed soon after hip replacement operations, the possibility of an acute arterial lesion must be kept in mind.