Femoral Artery Tear During Routine Catheterization Procedure

This case involves a forty-eight-year-old patient who underwent a diagnostic arteriogram for the evaluation of underlying cardiac disease. During the procedure, the patient sustained a dissection and tear to the common femoral and distal iliac arteries which required subsequent repair. It is alleged that a delay in the diagnosis of these tears resulted in unrelenting paresthesias of the thigh and other nerve damage that resulted in bowel and bladder dysfunction. There was also an issue regarding the delay in transferring the patient from the catheterization lab to the operating room to do the repair surgery.

Question(s) For Expert Witness

1. Were this patient's post-procedure complications in any way correlated with the arterial tears incurred during the catheterization?

Expert Witness Response E-001478

At first glance, I would say that damage to the common femoral and iliac arteries, or any delay in diagnosis, would not cause nerve damage that would result in bowel or bladder dysfunction. Those nerves are not in the vicinity of the femoral/iliac arteries. Nerve damage may have occurred during surgery, depending on the technique used, but the initial dissection of the artery or the delay in surgery would have nothing to do with it.