Pseudoaneurysm of the profunda femoris artery following a long anterograde intramedullary nail for an unstable intertrochanteric hip fracture: A case report and review of the literature

The incidence of hip fracture has been on the increase and projected to be higher than 6 million cases by the year 2050. Complications due to surgical fixation of hip fractures include, but are not limited to, infection, mal or nonunion, avascular necrosis, hardware failure, neurovascular injuries, and death. Vascular complications after surgical hip fracture fixation are very rare. We report a patient who developed Pseudoaneurysm of the profunda femoris artery following an anterograde trochanteric entry long intramedullary nail for an unstable hip fracture. This patient presented 2 weeks postoperatively with weakness, dizziness, and loss of strength. Her hematocrit on presentation was 19.7, and the arterial duplex showed a 6×7cm pseudoaneurysm in the profunda femoris artery. Vascular coil embolization was performed, and the patient fully recovered. Discussion of this particular case and complication along with a full literature review on the topic of pseudoaneurysm after fracture fixation is presented.