Background. To evaluate factors associated with gluteal muscle necrosis following transcatheter arterial embolization (TAE) for pelvic fracture.
Method. TAE was performed in the treatment of hemorrhagic shock caused by pelvic fracture in 131 patients between 2001 and 2007. Forty patients died during the first 24 h after trauma. Among the remaining 91 patients, patients who suffered gluteal muscle necrosis were evaluated for age, gender, ISS, embolic sites, muscle necrosis sites, treatment and clinical outcomes.
Results. Gluteal muscle necrosis occurred in 5 patients. Three patients, including 1 patient with rectal injury, underwent TAE of bilateral internal iliac arteries using gelatin sponge particles and steel coils. One of the remaining 2 patients underwent TAE of both right inferior gluteal and left internal pudendal arteries. The remaining elderly patient with severe arteriosclerosis and sigmoid injury underwent TAE of the right superior and inferior gluteal arteries.
Conclusions. Gluteal muscle necrosis warrants more attention as a complication in patients with pelvic fracture who have undergone TAE of bilateral internal iliac arteries or gluteal arteries.
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