[Total hip arthroplasty. Risk factors and prevention of iatrogenic vascular complications].

Vascular injuries during orthopaedic hip surgery are rare. However, they must always be feared because they threaten life and limb. We present 11 vascular injuries observed over a 12-year period. Seven women and 4 men, treated by elective surgery, presented 14 vascular injuries (6 arterial, 5 venous and 3 prosthetic vascular graft). Four injuries occurred during revision procedures. They were all operated as an emergency for ischaemic syndrome (6 cases) and/or haemorrhage (7 cases). Four patients (37%) died and 4 developed sequelae, various directly attributable to the vascular injury. In the light of these cases, we tried to determine the various mechanisms of the injury and the orthopedic and vascular risk factors. Preoperative detection and well defined therapeutic rules are very important for the prevention of these severe vascular accidents.