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Technical advances in vascular surgery in recent years have enhanced our ability to care for patients with car- diovascular diseases. Theextensive use of medical devices and prosthetic materials has resulted in longer survival of such patients and has also improved their quality of life. However, infection remains the most serious com- plication of prosthetic grafts and devices, because it dra- matically alters the patient’s outcome. Infections are often severe and in some cases life-threatening, while their cure may be problematic if removal of the infected material is not feasible. The incidence of infection varies with the indication of implantation and the site of the implant, be- ing more common after emergency procedures, when the prosthesis is anastomosed with the femoral artery and when placed subcutaneously. The true incidence may be higher than that reported, because many graft infections are not apparent until several years after implantation.

Urological surgery has evolved over time and now in- cludes many major operations, sometimes with consid- erable morbidity. Procedures that were performed only in specialized centres are now considered the standard of care for many institutions all over the world. The manage- ment of renal cell carcinoma involving the inferior vena cava remains a technically challenging surgical condition, while radical pelvic surgery for bladder cancer is some- times complicated with vascular injuries. In the last few decades we have also witnessed the evolution of laparos- copy from a diagnostic tool to a sophisticated therapeutic procedure which, in several centres, is used for advanced ablative and complex reconstructive urological proce- dures. However, this evolution has been accompanied by the occurrence of new types of vascular complications during laparoscopic urological surgery.

There are various situations in which the orthopaedic surgeon may be faced with vascular injuries. The most common of these are complete or incomplete nonviable amputations and open injuries/fractures of the upper or lower extremities. In addition, injuries to major vessels during trauma or reconstructive orthopaedic procedures are known to occur and need to be addressed immedi- ately by the operating team.