PENETRATING INJURIES OF THE AXILLARY ARTERY

This is a retrospective study of 32 patients with penetrating injury o f the axillary artery. There was an overall mortality of 6% entirely a ccounted for by associated injuries. Pre-operative angiography was use d in 12 of these patients either to confirm the presence of an injury or to define its location. Twelve patients underwent lateral arteriorr haphy or an end-to-end anastomosis and 19 patients had an interpositio n graft. No immediate problems were experienced with polytetrafluoroet hylene grafts compared with autogenous vein grafts. There were 14 pati ents with a concomitant venous injury; 13 were repaired and only trans ient arm oedema was experienced. Eleven patients had a brachial plexus injury and, of these, nine underwent a secondary nerve repair with a poor outcome. Axillary artery injury has a good prognosis with a morbi dity related mainly to associated nerve injury and a mortality account ed for by injuries to other body systems.