Malformaciones vasculares: Manejo mediante técnicas de radiología intervencional y satisfacción de los pacientes

background: vascular anomalies are prevalent in the general population and may produce significant impairment in quality of life. in recent years, minimally invasive interventional radiology techniques have become an efficient alternative for the treatment of these patients. the aim of this study was to present our experience in the management of vascular malformations with such techniques at clínica alemana in santiago, chile, and assess the satisfaction of patients with this management. material and methods: evaluation of the follow-up of patients with vascular malformations treated in the interventional radiology unit at our center since june - 2006 to june - 2009. patients were classified according to the hemodynamics of the lesions (high vs low-flow). complications and patient satisfaction with the treatment were assessed. results: eighty-seven patients (253 procedures) were included in the study, 36 men and 51 women, all with complete follow-up during the period of the study. their average age was 20.6 years. in over 50% of the patients the vascular anomaly was located on the face or the lower extremities. twenty-eight percent (25 patients) had a high-flow malformation (pure or mixed) and 62 (72%) had a low-flow lesion (vascular malformation, lymphangioma or mixed). on average, each patient underwent 2.9 procedures (1-10). there were 4 major complications (1.65%), one of which was predominantly cosmetic with necrosis in the area of the lesion. the average satisfaction rate was 7.95 (on a rating scale of 1 to 10). satisfaction was significantly higher in patients with low-flow malformations (8.27) than in those with high-flow lesions (7.16). (p < 0.05) discussion: treatment of vascular malformations using interventional radiology techniques is an effective alternative, with good prospects of clinical improvement, patient satisfaction and low complication rates.