Superficial femoral artery branch avulsion after severe muscle cramping

Contrast-enhanced computer tomography of the left lower extremity in the midthigh region. There is an area of extravasation of contrast material (small arrow ) in the vicinity of the femoral artery (large arrow ). Because the intensity of the extravasated contrast is the same as that in the femoral artery, an arterial source was suspected.

Diagnostic angiogram of the left lower extremity, demonstrating the superficial femoral artery and its muscular sidebranches. The arrow depicts an avulsed sidebranch with free extravasation of contrast material. An attempt at selective catheterization and embolization was unsuccessful, because of the small caliber of the vessel.

Transverse duplex imaging over the left midthigh demonstrates the superficial femoral artery (large arrow ) and a region of active bleeding into a cavity adjacent to the hematoma (small arrow ). The cavity identified had bidirectional flow, as depicted by the color spectrum analysis.