Iliac artery reconstruction secondary to incidental injury in open hernia repair: A case report and literature review

Abstract Introduction Inguinal hernia repair is one of the most common surgeries performed worldwide by general surgeons. More than 750,000 inguinal hernia repairs are performed each year in the United States. Complications of inguinal or femoral hernia are relatively rare, depending on the clinical circumstances in which the patient is admitted to the operating room and the type of hernia. The complications are classified as: intraoperative, short term and long term. Arterial lesions are the rarest but most dangerous. Objective To describe surgical techniques used to repair injuries to the external iliac artery during an inguinal hernia repair that is reproducible by general surgeons. Materials and methods A case report of an intraoperative external iliac artery injury is presented in which is a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft was used over the length of the lesion. Different techniques may be used for revascularisation: autogenous vein graft, synthetic grafts, revascularisation with ipsilateral or contralateral internal iliac artery and femoro-femoral crossover graft. Conclusion The surgical technique using PTFE grafts is effective for repairing arterial injuries and it results in timely revascularisation that promotes satisfactory progress.