Late-onset bleeding due to displaced lesser trochanter after a short gamma nail: a case report

Submitted: March 24, 2025
Accepted: June 15, 2025
Published: July 22, 2025
Abstract Views: 47
PDF: 17
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Authors

An 89-year-old female patient presented to the emergency department with a spontaneously occurring and rapidly increasing swelling and pressure pain in her left thigh. Five weeks previously, she had suffered a pertrochanteric femur fracture on the left side following a domestic fall, which was surgically treated with a short gamma nail. Following an uneventful post-operative course, the patient was discharged to a rehabilitation clinic. A CT angiography confirmed the clinical suspicion of bleeding, identifying the profunda femoris artery as the source. The cause of the vascular injury was the displaced lesser trochanter. By implanting a covered stent, the active bleeding was stopped, and after stabilizing the patient, the hematoma was surgically removed, whereby the lesser trochanter was left alone.

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Pavol Mikula, Clinic for Geriatrics and Geriatric Day Clinic, Bayreuth Hospital, Medical Campus Upper Franconia

Chair of Geriatrics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

Matthias Unseld, Haus der Barmherzigkeit, Medical University

Chair of Geriatrics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

Hans Jürgen Heppner, Clinic for Geriatrics and Geriatric Day Clinic, Bayreuth Hospital, Medical Campus Upper Franconia

Chair of Geriatrics, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany.

How to Cite

Mikula, P., Schuberth, K., Rubenbauer-Beyerlein, M., Schupfner, R., Unseld, M., & Heppner, H. J. (2025). Late-onset bleeding due to displaced lesser trochanter after a short gamma nail: a case report. Case Reports in Emergency Surgery and Trauma, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/crest.2025.37