Patient undergoing surgery for primary varicose veins.
Interventions:
The patient underwent attempted long saphenous vein stripping by passing a flexible stripper from ankle to groin. The stripper fractured at its upper end and a fragment of stripper became lodged in the internal iliac vein in the pelvis. This was removed at laparotomy. The patient made an uncomplicated recovery.
Conclusion:
Major complications of varicose vein surgery are rare. This unusual problem was probably caused by material fatigue in the stripper, leading to fracture near the upper end of the stripper.
ProebstleTMPaepckeUWeiselGGassSWeberL.High ligation and stripping of the long saphenous veins using the tumescent technique for local anesthesia. Dermatol Surg1998; 24: 149–53.
6.
EgglinTKDickeyNWRosenblattMPollakJS. Retrieval of intravescular foreign bodies in 32 cases. AJR1995; 164: 1259–64.
7.
MartinLStrahanKMurphyG.Retrieval of intravascular iatrogenic foreign bodies using a nonsurgical technique. Postgrad Med J1997; 73: 864–6.
