Abstract
The purpose of our study was to analyze the risk factors for complications in patients with pelvic fractures undergoing transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE). We enrolled 80 patients with pelvic fracture transferred to our hospital in this study, among whom 52 underwent TAE. TAE of the internal iliac artery was performed unilaterally in 7 patients and bilaterally in 45 patients. Complications were observed in 5 patients : 2 patients developed gluteal muscle necrosis and 3 developed gluteal or genital skin ulcer. The complication rate among all patients undergoing TAE was 9.6% (5/52 patients). The complication rates for unilateral and bilateral internal iliac artery embolization were 0% (0/7 patients) and 11.1% (5/45 patients), respectively. No complications were observed in patients who underwent unilateral embolization. In patients in whom soft tissue evaluation was performed using enhanced CT, subcutaneous hematoma was observed in 4/5 patients (80%) who experienced complications and in 2/2 patients (100%) with necrosis. Our results suggest that attention should be paid to complications in patients who undergo bilateral internal iliac artery embolization, particularly in those with subcutaneous hematoma.
