Nonsurgical Therapy of Femoral Artery Pseudoaneurysms with Color Doppler Ultrasound-Guided Compression

Femoral arterial pseudoaneurysm (FAP) is an important complication of interventional cardiology procedures, occurring in 0.3 to 0.7 % of patients. Color Doppler ultrasonography-guided pseudoancurysm compression (USGC) is a new technique that may offer an effective nonsurgical treatment. We studied 12 patients (6 male, 6 female, mean age 60.1±7.0, ranging 47 to 69) with FAP. A vascular complication was suspected due to the presence of a hematoma, bruit or pulsatile mass, color Doppler ultrasound study was performed using a Sonochrome (GE Medical Systems) with 3.75 convex and 7.5 Mhz linear array probe. All patients with pseudoaneurysm were performed with external ultrasound-guided compression by an experienced radiologist. In patients with FAP, pseudoaneurysm size, location, puncture site, compression time, number of procedure and results were registered.
RESULTS
All FAP patients were examined 1 to 15 days after femoral intervention. FAP (mean) size: 21.8±8.1 mm, FAP location: superficial femoral artery 2, common femoral artery 10; puncture site: 1 to 3 (mean: 1.4±0.6); mean compression time: 40.3?18.5 min, number of procedure: 1 to 8 (mean: 4.4±1.8). This technique was successful in 11 patients. Recurrence in FAP was not seen in 1 month follow-up. In conclusion, USGC pseudoaneurysm repair in postangiographic femoral artery pseudoaneurysm was performed as a new technique that is easy and alternative to surgical repair.