Surgical Management of an Intercostal Artery False Aneurysm Due to a Stab Wound

Abstract

Pseudo-aneurysm are due to arterial wall disruption leading to the formation of a perfused sac that communicates with the arterial lumen. This entity remains at highly significant risk of rupture. The majority of cases are presenting as haemothorax.Intercostal artery pseudo-aneurysms are extremely rare, most of them were associated with surgical interventions or blunt thoracic trauma, only one case was reported after a knife stabbing wound.We describe the case of a young male patient who was stabbed with a knife in his posterior left chest side and was first operated to evacuate a contained hematoma only to re-consult after 20 days for a pulsatile mass which proved to be an intercostal artery pseudo-aneurysm. The patient was successfully surgically managed and was discharged 4 days after the surgery.