Medicolegal Implications of Vascular Trauma: An Institutional Experience

Abstract

Background: Vascular trauma is one of the devastating types of injuries . Despite this fact, there is an obvious deficiency
in the educational sessions for vascular surgeons concerning the appropriate medicolegal dealing with such injuries.
Aim: To highlight the role of vascular limb trauma during present scenario with the medicolegal and clinical
findings.
Methods: A 5 -years retrospective study with a follow up period of 2 years studying the data of peripheral vascular
injuries at three specialized trauma centre with special emphasize on the cause, the type, and the outcome of this
trauma . Obtained data were statistically analysed using the SPSS computer program (version 23).
Results: This study included 1550 trauma patients (987 males and 563 females) who presented with peripheral
vascular injuries. The patients’ age ranged from < 3 years to >70 years. There was a significant association
between the age and the circumstances of trauma. The most encountered causative mechanisms were traffic
accidents (45.7%) and firearms (21.7%). There was no significant association between outcome and age (p =
0.114) or circumstances of trauma (p = 0.208). There was a highly significant association between the outcome
and the duration of hospital stay (p < 0.001). Lower limb injuries were higher in frequency than upper limb
injuries (n = 286 and 123) respectively. Upper and lower limbs arterial injuries had a significantly higher
frequency rate than the venous injuries. Ulnar artery and brachial vein injuries was the most frequently
encountered upper limb arterial and venous trauma, while the femoral artery and the deep femoral vein were
found to be the most affected lower limb vessels. Bone injuries were the most frequently accompanying injuries
(44.6% of total cases).
Conclusion: As any sort of injury may possess medical and lawful perspectives, medicolegal investigations have
very important position when studying trauma cases, going hand in hand with the clinical aspect.