Traumatic subclavian arterial rupture: a case report and review of literature

Subclavian artery injuries represent an uncommon complication of blunt chest trauma, this structure being protected by subclavius muscle, the clavicle, the first rib, and the deep cervical fascia as well as the costo-coracoid ligament, a clavi-coraco-axillary fascia portion. Subclavian artery injury appears early after trauma, and arterial rupture may cause life-treatening haemorrages, pseudo-aneurysm formation and compression of brachial plexus. These clinical eveniences must be carefully worked out by accurate physical examination of the upper limb: skin color, temperature, sensation as well as radial pulse and hand motility represent the key points of physical examination in this setting. The presence of large hematomas and pulsatile palpable mass in supraclavicular region should raise the suspicion of serious vascular injury. Since the first reports of endovascular treatment for traumatic vascular injuries in the 90's, an increasing number of vascular lesions have been treated this way. We report a case of traumatic subclavian arterial rupture after blunt chest trauma due to a 4 meters fall, treated by endovascular stent grafting, providing a complete review of the past twenty years' literature. © 2012 Assenza et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.