Necrotizing fasciitis of the lower limb after venous surgery: cases studies and a review of the literature.

We report 2 cases of necrotizing fasciitis following stripping of the long saphenous vein and phlebectomy of varicose collateral vessels. The first one concerns a 42-year-old man who presented with a left thigh postoperative infection, evolving despite oral antibiotic therapy. Urgent surgical exploration proved an extensive necrosis consistent with necrotizing fasciitis. Wide excision of the necrotic tissue was performed. Under intravenous antibiotic therapy, local wound care and hyperbaric oxygen therapy, the patient's condition improved. The second case concerns a 60-year-old man with cardio-vascular disease and diabetes. He was transferred in our institution 7 days after surgery for an infection in the right thigh and septic shock. Immediate surgical exploration showed extensive necrotizing fasciitis of the thigh, popliteal fossa and latero-posterior compartments of the leg. Muscle necrosis of the right leg was also observed. A right supra-condylar amputation was performed. The patient improved under antibiotherapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy.

Do surgical distal bypasses still play a role in the treatment of critical limb ischemia?

AIM: The treatment of critical limb ischemia is at present very controversial. In fact surgery using different grafts (venous or prosthetic) is in competition with percutaneous angioplasty. Progresses of endoluminal techniques brought certain authors to think that angioplasty is now the first treatment of critical limb ischemia. The aim of the study hereby is to compare our results of distal venous bypasses to the results obtained in literature with venous or other grafts and to those of the percutaneous angioplasty. MATERIAL AND METHOD: In this retrospective study of 113 operated cases between January 2003 and December 2006 by four surgeons, 21 cases are excluded considering the lack of data. Among the remaining 92 cases, the average age is 68.1 years. Men represent 79.4%. Comorbidities include: COPD 55.4%, coronary artery disease 60.9%, diabetes 44.6%, dyslipidemia 66.3% and dialysis 9.8%. Surgical revision was necessary in 29.4%. There were 30.4% stage III limb ischemia and 62% stage IV. Acute ischemia was present in 7.6% of patients. The proximal anastomosis of the bypass is femoral except for 13 cases. The outflow artery is always sural or even more distal. RESULTS: Perioperative mortality is of 2.2% (two cases). The average follow up was of 26.2 months (0.16-64). Eleven patients required subsequent amputation. The primary patency at 1, 3 and 5 years was respectively of 82.1%, 70.6% and 55.9% while limb salvage was respectively of 87.4%, 85.9% and 85.9% at the same intervals. CONCLUSION: Comparing our results to those of the literature for venous or prosthetic bypasses and distal angioplasties, we remain convinced of the high efficiency, on the long run, of infra-popliteal venous bypass grafts. Meanwhile, recent data on distal angioplasties are promising and in constant progress.

Pituitary apoplexy after aortic abdominal aneurysm surgery: a case report.

Pituitary apoplexy (PA) occurring after surgery is a rare but life-threatening acute clinical situation following extensive haemorrhage or necrosis within a pituitary adenoma. Pituitary apoplexy has been reported to occur spontaneously in the majority of cases or in association with various inducing factors. One of the pathophysiological mechanism that has been postulated is the fall of arterial blood pressure inducing ischaemia followed by infarction of the pituitary gland. We report a case of pituitary apoplexy following aortic abdominal surgery. To our knowledge, this has not been previously reported. A 73-year old man complained of headache and diplopia. At clinical examination, he presented a right oculomotor nerve palsy. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a haemorrhagic sellar mass. In our case, intraoperative hypotension could have been the precipitating factor. Diagnostic and therapeutic measures are discussed.

Spontaneous renal artery dissection in an otherwise healthy male.

Dissection of a renal artery is rare and, in most cases, associated with underlying arterial diseases. Spontaneous renal artery dissection (RAD) is exceptional. We report the case of a young and otherwise healthy man with an isolated dissection of the right renal artery without any obvious origin. Diagnosis was made by angiography. He received medical treatment and rapidly recovered. Renal artery dissection can be misdiagnosed because its clinical presentation may be confusing. Selective renal angiography is essential to evaluate the extent of the dissection and the suitability for repair. Control of the hypertension and renal function preservation are the two main goals of the treatment. The place of surgical repair remains unclear because of the poor results on hypertension improvement and high complication rate.

[Complications of endovascular treatment of aneurysm of the infrarenal abdominal aorta: incidence and treatment]. / Complications du traitement endovasculaire de l'anévrisme de l'aorte abdominale sous-rénale: incidence et traitement.

INTRODUCTION: Abdominal aortic aneurysms are the 13th leading cause of death in the United States. Conventional surgical treatment is associated with a low mortality of 1.4-5% and a higher morbidity in high-risk patients. Endovascular aneurysm repair is now performed in patients considered at too high risk for conventional repair. Although the use of endovascular grafts was initially limited, this method is gaining popularity despite the risk of complications including endoleaks, dislocation and graft thrombosis. METHODS: Between June 1997 and June 2000, 28 patients were treated with endovascular stent grafts. 53 patients were treated by open surgical repair. Six patients presenting with rupture were excluded. Endoleaks were detected by arteriogram and computed tomographic scan. The mean aneurysm diameter, with a mean length of 3.2 cm, was 6.3 cm. The mean proximal neck diameter was not greater than 2.4 cm. RESULTS: There were no conversions to open repair. The mean time of the intervention was 103 minutes. Nine patients with type I endoleaks underwent successful endovascular treatment; 2 patients presented a late type I endoleak treated in one case by dilatation. Four patients presented a type II endoleak after 6, 18, 30 and 32 months respectively, treated in two cases by embolization. Finally, erosion of the material was seen in four cases and a migration in one case. A decreased size of the aneurysms was seen in 10 cases, a stabilization in 12 cases, an augmentation of more than 5 mm in one case and a diminution followed by an augmentation in one case. CONCLUSION: Key to success is restrictive patient selection due to morphological criteria and improvements in surgical techniques and equipment to reduce the incidence of specific treatment complications require a long-term follow-up.