Knee dislocation. An illusive cause of critical arterial occlusion.

Popliteal artery injury is a hazardous and often subtle complication of traumatic knee dislocation. Review of the literature in which series of knee dislocations were reported has revealed a 28% incidence of thrombosis or rupture of this critical vessel. Fifty-seven percent of these patients required leg amputation. The most frequent cause of limb loss has been absence or delay of direct surgical repair of the associated popliteal artery injury. This report describes a management plan that is intended to minimize the likleihood of future disabling leg amputations following knee dislocation.