Occult femoral artery injury in relation to fracture of the femoral shaft.

Recognized injury of the femoral artery occurs in two per cent of patients with fracture of the femoral shaft. Delay in detection of these arterial injuries has led to unsatisfactory results in a young group of patients. Therefore, 40 patients who had suffered fracture of the femoral shaft 6-20 months (mean 13 months) prior to examination, were haemodynamically assessed using Doppler ankle/arm pressure indices to determine the incidence of occult femoral artery injury. Six patients (15%) exhibited haemodynamically significant abnormalities all in relation to previously injured limbs.