Fariborz Farsad
1, Bahador Baharestani
1*, Hamidreza Pouraliakbar
1, Farshad Hashemian
1, Hooman Bakhshandeh
1, Abbas Zavarehee
1, Maryam Nadermohammadi
11 Department of Cardiac Surgery, Shaheed Rajaie Heart Center, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
Pseudoaneurysm has been an increasingly common complication of catheterization
procedures during the past two decades, with the greatest incidence being in the femoral
artery. Treatment of iatrogenic femoral artery pseudoaneurysm with the injection of
thrombin is reported to be an efficacious and safe procedure. In this study, we evaluated
the efficacy and success rate of percutaneous ultrasonographically-guided thrombin
injection and compression method for the treatment of pseudoaneurysm and for studying
of the effect of thrombin injection on systemic coagulation parameters. This cohort
clinical trial was conducted on patients with femoral pseudoaneurysm after percutaneous
intervention (PCI) in Shaheed Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center. The
patients were divided into two randomized groups and treated with either the compression
method or the percutaneous ultrasonographically-guided thrombin injection method.
Pseudoaneurysm size, pseudoaneurysm neck size, thrombin dose, thrombosis time,
outcome of therapy, and complications were documented prospectively. Duplex
sonographic follow-up examinations were performed at 0 and 24 hours afterwards. Partial
thrombin time as well as the Quick test (prothrombin time) was monitored before and
after the intervention. Thirty patients between 15 and 85 years of age with femoral
pseudoaneurysm following catheterization were enrolled in this study. The average length
and width of the pseudoaneurysms were respectively 2.45±1.15 cm and 2.06±1.07 cm. In
total, 13 thrombin injections were administered. The mean thrombin dose was 500-2000
IU. The success rate of thrombin injection was %92.30 (12 of 13 patients), which was
significantly higher than that of compression 82.35% (13 of 17 patients) (p value<0.05).
No thromboembolic, infectious, or allergic complications occurred. In this study, the
percutaneous ultrasonographically-guided thrombin injection method was successful and
safe in the management of femoral pseudoaneurysms. Changes in coagulating factors
indicated the possibility of thrombin passage into the arterial circulation.