Nightmare of lumbar disc surgery: iliac artery injury

Intra-operative injuries of pelvic vessels are quite infrequent but serious complications of lumbar disc surgery. Injury may cause laceration of the vessel with acute life threatening retroperitoneal haemorrhage, formation of pseudoaneurysms or arteriovenous fistulae in the late phase. It is important for surgeons to be aware of these potentially fatal complications. Authors reported a case of major vascular injury recognised intra-operatively during posterior lumbar discectomy and repaired immediately.