Early diagnosis and treatment of trauma in knee joints accompanied with popliteal vascular injury.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate the early diagnosis and treatment of trauma in the knee joints accompanied with popliteal vascular injury.

Methods: Fifteen cases of patients with trauma in knee joints accompanied with popliteal vascular injury. These patients included 8 males and 6 females between the ages of 27 and 62, the average age being 39.2. Data of clinical symptoms and signs; blood oxygen saturation, color Doppler examination; vascular intervention by DSA angiography; and surgical operations were analyzed to clearly identify their role in early diagnosis and treatment.

Results: In the patient group for this study there were: 1 death case; 4 stage I amputation cases; 4 stage II amputation cases due to failure to salvage limbs; and 6 cases with patients who had successful limb salvage. The six cases of limb survival patients were followed up for 12 to 60 months, with an average follow up time of 28.3 months. The excellent rate of joint function of these patients with successful limb salvage was 83.3%.

Conclusions: For patients with injured limbs, unclear dorsalis pedis artery palpation, decreased skin temperature, and decreased oxygen saturation of the toes, clinical manifestations combined with proper auxiliary inspection (such as color Doppler and blood vessel angiography of interventional DSA) enabled early diagnose of peripheral trauma in the knee joint accompanied with popliteal vascular injury.