THE MEDIAL BRACHIAL FASCIAL COMPARTMENT SYNDROME FOLLOWING AXILLARY ARTERIOGRAPHY; A CASE REPORT

Medial brachial fascial compartment syndrome is known to be a potential complication of percutaneous procedures via the axillary artery. We report a case of brachial plexus injury (medial brachial fascial compartment syndrome) after axillary arteriography during an endovascular procedure in a 25 years old male patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He had complaints of weakness, numbness and severe pain in the left arm 11 hours after angiography. Physical examination of the patient revealed no visible hematoma or ecchymosis, and all the pulses of left upper extremity (i.e. brachial, radial, and ulnar) were palpable. Color Doppler ultrasonography of the left axillary compartment revealed a pseudoaneurysm. Surgical exploration was done to drain the hematoma and to suture the axillary arterial puncture site. Motor deficit totally ameliorated shortly after the operation, and the sensory deficit improved only after three weeks. (Turkish J Vasc Sur 2007;16(1):31-34)