Injection Injury of an Aberrant Superficial Radial Artery Requiring Surgical Intervention

We report a patient with an anomalous superficial radial artery (A. antebrachialis superficialis dorsalis). The encountered vessel coursed abnormally superficial to the tendons of the extensor pollicus brevis (EPB), abductor pollicus longus (APL) and extensor pollicus longus (EPL), as it passed through the anatomical snuffbox, before penetrating the first dorsal interosseous muscle. This “superficial radial artery” was mistaken for a vein and cannulated with an angiocatheter. Subsequently, the patient sustained an extravasation and thrombotic injury secondary to a promethazine injection eventually requiring surgical intervention for attempted salvage.