2019 Volume 34 Issue 1 Pages 17-21
A 29-year-old Vietnamese man presented to a local clinic with a stab wound on the lateral aspect of his left thigh. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) revealed no arterial injury. Thus, the wound was sutured and he was discharged on day 4 of hospitalization. The day after discharge, while on board an airplane to Vietnam, he developed sudden swelling of the left thigh with pain and was examined at the previous clinic after an emergency landing. Contrast-enhanced CT revealed a ruptured left deep femoral artery pseudoaneurysm, and he was transported to this center. After arrival, coil embolization was performed twice ; however, the pseudoaneurysm persisted, necessitating surgical resection. He recovered uneventfully and was discharged on day 29 of hospitalization, and returned to Vietnam by airplane the day following discharge. Imaging studies are warranted to exclude pseudoaneurysms in patients boarding an aircraft in the early stages after penetrating trauma.
