Pseudoaneurysms caused by femoral artery catheterization have been regularly diagnosed in medical units with a great number of percutaneous interventions, with a documented incidence between 0.05 and 6%. Small femoral pseudoaneurysms undergo spontaneous resolution. Treatment options are: ultrasound-guided compression, thrombin injection to induce pseudoaneurysm thrombosis and surgical treatment. Percutaneous thrombin injection has the advantage of being a fast and painless procedure. Both isolated thrombin and thrombin preparations with fibrinogen and coagulation factors can be used. The authors' initial experience with five cases treated with thrombin tissue adhesive showed successful results in four; one case required surgery. There was no success with isolated human thrombin, but immediate thrombosis was achieved after injection of thrombin associated to fibrinogen and factor XIII. In this article, the treatment options for femoral pseudoaneurysms and the technique of percutaneous thrombin are discussed.
Pseudoaneurysm; ultrasonography; thrombin; fibrinogen
