Peripheral arterial shotgun missile emboli: diagnostic and therapeutic management--case reports.

Arterial bullet embolism is an uncommon complication of vascular trauma. While many reports exist of peripheral embolism from aortic entry sites, few cases are described of distal embolization from peripheral arteries. Untreated emboli may cause ischemia and threaten the limb at a site far removed from the point of missile entry. Unless suspected, diagnosed, and extracted, these emboli may ultimately result in limb loss in spite of a successful proximal arterial repair. During the last 10 years we treated 4 such cases, all of whom had initial limb salvage. This report describes our diagnostic and operative management of these injuries and collectively summarizes our experience as well as all other cases in the literature.

Preoperative splenic artery occlusion as an adjunct for high risk splenectomy.

High risk splenectomy is often encountered in cases of hypersplenism with massive splenomegaly (10 times usual weight of 150-200 g) resulting from myelophthisic processes. Intra-operative ligation of the splenic artery through the lesser sac is a technically useful method of gaining vascular control prior to mobilizing the challenging spleen. However, a massive or inaccessible spleen imposes mechanical limitations during surgery and may be complicated by torrential intra-operative hemorrhage in the setting of severe thrombocytopenia refractile to platelet transfusions. The authors describe pre-operative intravascular proximal splenic artery control in four adult patients (3 men, 1 woman) with extreme splenomegaly (2,250-10,000 g). The massive splenomegaly in this group resulted from chronic myelogenous leukemia (n = 2), isolated splenic lymphoma (n = 1), and agnogenic myeloid metaplasia (n = 1). Chief symptom manifestations included left upper quadrant abdominal pain, early satiety, post-prandial emesis, dyspnea, petechiae, and associated easy bruising. Prior to surgery, all the patients were taken to the radiology suite where either detachable silastic balloons or stainless steel coils were placed selectively into the splenic artery under fluoroscopic guidance requiring approximately 35 minutes. Splenic artery occlusion aided normalization of thrombocytopenia (average increases 19,000/microliter to 215,000/microliter) with prolongation in survival of platelets. Successful splenectomy was subsequently performed with no additional transfusion requirements and was made technically easier by reducing splenic bulk. There were no adverse consequences of intravascular occlusion and no peri-operative morbidity or mortality. Preoperative intravascular selective splenic artery occlusion, used as an important potential adjunct to anticipated high risk splenectomy, is recommended.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)