Delayed presentation of popliteal artery transection following undisplaced lateral condyle fracture of tibia

Literature suggests that vascular damage occurring with orthopedic injury of the lower extremity is rare and uncommon. We present a case of a young adult male who presented to the emergency room with a history of road traffic accident with complaints of pain in the right ankle diagnosed as medial malleolus fracture and pain in the left knee diagnosed as undisplaced lateral tibial condyle fracture. At the time of presentation, the left leg appeared normal and was stabilized with a knee brace, which on the next day developed severe swelling with absence of distal pulses. Doppler revealed no blood flow distal to popliteal artery with severe soft tissue edema. The patient was posted for emergency basis vascular exploration where popliteal artery was surprisingly found transected and was repaired followed by timely fasciotomy. This case report has also been prepared to stress the importance of secondary survey in patients after high energy trauma as it can prevent the important injuries from being missed.