Descending Geniculate Artery Pseudoaneurysm Following Tibial Plateau Fracture

Pseudoaneurysms are uncommon in patients with trauma, but can cause diagnostic difficulty and result in significant morbidity. Etiologies range from penetrating and nonpenetrating trauma to operative injury during fracture fixation, arthroscopy, total joint arthroplasty, and hardware loosening and removal. Pseudoaneurysms can conspicuously present as a pulsatile mass with an audible bruit, or as a subtly expanding hematoma. In either case, the complications can be serious if diagnosed late. The authors report a case of a pseudoaneurysm arising from the descending geniculate artery following a tibial plateau fracture. This was suspected following a slowly expanding hematoma and persistent anemia refractory to transfusion. Computed tomography angiography was used for confirmation. Successful treatment was accomplished with embolization, surgical evacuation of the hematoma, delayed skin grafting, and fracture fixation. The postoperative outcome was satisfactory, with complete wound healing, functional but decreased range of motion, normal perfusion distal to the injury, and the sole report of mild intermittent knee pain. [ Orthopedics. 2017; 40(1):e188–e191.]