Abstract
Seventeen patients were treated for major peripheral injuries at the Univer sity College Hospital, Ibadan from May 1977 to April 1984. Stab wounds and blunt trauma were the commonest modes of injury. Diagnosis was based on clinical features with arteriography in 10 patients. Arterial transection was found in 8 patients, thrombosis in 4, arteriovenous fistulae in 3 and aneurysm in 2. The ischaemic time in the acute cases averaged 53.5 hours. Arterial repair was performed in 11 cases, embolectomy in 2, ligation in 2, primary amputation and non-operative treatment in 1 case each. Repair failed in 2 cases of popliteal injuries grafted after 48 hours of ischaemia; both were amputated. Functional results were excellent in 13 patients. One patient died from a delayed rupture from the distal end of an ilio-femoral dacron graft. The need for early presenta tion of cases and avoidance of prosthetic graft is reconfirmed.
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