title: Carotid artery injuries: experience with 124 cases.
abstract: This is a retrospective study of 124 patients with carotid injuries. The common carotid artery was injured in 84% of the patients. Associated trauma to the internal jugular vein was present in 26%. Most patients (56%) were dead on arrival to the hospital and of those who were operated on, the mortality was 22% (overall mortality, 66%). All operative mortalities had severe shock or neurologic deficits on admission. We performed repair on all patients with preoperative neurologic deficits and the mortality was 64%. The use of a shunt did not influence the prognosis. We believe that there is no place for an emergency angiogram in order to diagnose a carotid injury or to plan the operation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Baragwanath Hospital, South Africa.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Demetriades
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skalkides
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sofianos
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Melissas
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Franklin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000601:surgery; D020212:Carotid Artery Injuries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*