Background: Roadway injuries are a leading cause of lower extremity vascular trauma. Treating these injuries involves controlling life-threatening hemorrhage and restoring distal perfusion.
Materials and methods: We describe a unique presentation of chronic iliac artery occlusion in the setting of blunt trauma requiring extra-anatomic bypass for maximal limb salvage.
Results: A 50-year-old male presented after a pedestrian versus auto accident. He had mangled bilateral lower extremities and was taken emergently for lower extremity amputations. He was found to have chronic left common iliac occlusion and a femoral-femoral bypass was performed to assist with healing his left below-the-knee amputation.
Discussion: Lack of adequate perfusion can cause poor outcomes in limb salvage. This case demonstrated that lower extremity trauma can be complicated by chronic vascular disease. Reperfusion and adequate wound healing can be accomplished by using bypass grafting after more traditional reperfusion techniques fail.
Keywords: orthopaedic; surgery; trauma; trauma acute care; vascular.