The value of different forms of compression therapy in the treatment of iatrogenic femoral pseudoaneurysms

Abstract

Background. Pseudoaneurysms (PA) belong to the group of most frequent complications following percutaneous endovascular procedures. The main stem of their conservative management is compression therapy with compression dressing or ultrasound-guided compression either manually or with ultrasonographic transducer. The purpose of this study was to assess the value of different forms of compression therapy in the treatment of femoral pseudoaneurysms.
Material and methods. A group of 273 patients with femoral pseudoaneurysm following percutaneous endovascular intervention was analyzed. Depending on the clinical situation and the centre where the patients were treated, three different forms of therapy were administered: compression dressing in 142 patients (group I), ultrasound-guided manual compression in 94 patients (group II), or ultrasound-guided transducer compression in 23 patients (group III).
Results. Thrombosis of femoral pseudoaneurysms occurred in 23.2%, 75.5% and 8.7% of patients from group I, II and III, respectively. The differences between the groups were statistically significant.
Conclusions. According to our observations, ultrasound guided manual compression was the best method of treatment of femoral pseudoaneurysm. As well as showing high efficacy it was easy to perform and free from complications. Ultrasound guided manual compression should be the method of choice in the treatment of iatrogenic, femoral pseudoaneurysm.