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Home > Medical Professionals > Full Index of Images In Vascular Disease > Common Femoral Artery Infection

Common Femoral Artery Infection

Raymond M. Shaheen, MD
Mark D. Morasch, MD
Northwestern University

An otherwise healthy 39-year-old woman underwent successful uterine artery embolization for acute arterial hemorrhage. When the procedure was complete, the right common femoral artery (CFA) puncture site was closed by the interventional radiologist using a percutaneous suture mediated closure device (Perclose, Abbott Laboratories). The patient returned two weeks later with purulent drainage from the right groin and a recent history of two episodes of acute, yet self-limiting, arterial bleeding from the wound. A CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis (Figure 1) revealed inflammatory changes confined to the infrainguinal region of the right groin.

Figure 1. A CT scan of the abdomen demonstrating acute inflammatory changes (arrow) localized to the infrainguinal region following right common femoral artery (CFA) puncture and Perclose closure device placement.

Given the history of right groin hemorrhage and gross infection, resection and ligation of the right CFA (Figure 2) with debridement of surrounding tissue was performed. An extra-anatomic bypass via the obturator foramen preceded resection and ligation. Proximal and distal targets were accessed by an extraperitoneal exposure of the right external iliac artery and a mid-thigh sub-sartorial exposure of the superficial femoral artery. A 6mm ePTFE conduit was used for reconstruction. The patient tolerated the procedure well and was discharged from the hospital, fully ambulatory, with a right groin wound vac (Kinetic Concepts Inc.) and antibiotic therapy.

 

Figure 2. (A) A gross pathologic specimen demonstrating the infected common femoral artery (CFA) with visualization of the arteriotomy puncture site (arrow)	Figure 2.(B) the Perclose device suture surrounded in an inflammatory rind of infected tissue (arrow).