Femoral artery injury during revision of a dislocated bipolar hemiarthroplasty: a case report

Although rarely encountered, major vascular injury is a serious complication of total hip arthroplasty (THA). We report the case of an 85-year-old woman who sustained a deep femoral artery injury associated with a superficial femoral artery thrombosis during revision of a dislocated bipolar hemiarthroplasty to a THA. Altered anatomy due to migration of the femoral head was thought to be one of the factors leading to this complication. Following the revision procedure, no signs of vascular insufficiency were detected in the immediate postoperative period, but ischaemia was clinically evident 12 hours after surgery. The importance of careful preoperative and postoperative assessment is addressed.