Sixty-four-slice CT angiography to determine the three dimensional relationships of vascular and soft tissue wounds in lower extremity war time injuries.

This article analyzes the use and benefits of the 64-slice CT scanner in determining the 3D relationships of vascular and soft tissue wounds in lower extremity war time injuries. A brief overview of CT scanning is given as well as the techniques used to produce the images needed for diagnosis. The series follows two similar cases of war time injury patients at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The first case is a 30-year-old active duty male, who presented with multiple trauma from a motor vehicle accident because of an improvised explosive device (IED) blast, sustaining substantial lower extremity injuries. The second case is a 34-year-old active duty male, who presented with multiple trauma blast injuries. Both cases were of interest because the vasculature was found to be very close to the surface of the wound, which put the arteries at risk for rupture and for iatrogenic injury during repeated debridements.