CAECAL INFARCTION: A VERY RARE COMPLICATION OF ARTERIOGRAPHY

We report an unusual case of a 44 year old woman who developed caecal infarction following a routine percutaneous transfemoral arteriography performed for worsening intermittent claudication. Bahrain Med Bull 1995;17: Percutaneous transfemoral arteriography (PTA) is a relatively safe procedure, with overall morbidity and mortality of less than 2 % and 0.05 % respectively1. Whilst most complications are related to the puncture of the artery, more serious problems have been encountered secondary to mechanical damage and embolisation during catheter manipulation. Fatal bowel infarction following arteriography has been described, often in association with other visceral infarctions, due to disseminated cholesterol embolisation2,3. Infarction of a restricted segment of the bowel wall is, however, exceptionally unusual. We report a case of limited areas of caecal infarction following PTA