Case Report - Successful surgical removal of Palmaz stent stuck in the left superficial femoral artery

This report describes a case of the successful surgical removal of a Palmaz stent accidentally stuck in the left superficial femoral artery. A 58-year-old man was referred to us with complaints of intermittent claudication in his left leg after walking 500 metres. Diagnostic angiography of the lower extremity showed 90% stenosis with a short segment at the left superficial femoral artery and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was performed. The angiogram just after PTA revealed a dissection of the artery. A Palmaz stent implant was attempted in order to seal off the dissection. The balloon used to dilate the stent burst, resulting in insufficient stent expansion, and it became stuck. Surgical operation to remove the stuck stent and reconstruct the blood flow through the left superficial femoral artery by artificial prosthesis grafting proved successful.