Exertional Lower Extremity Pain in a Triathlete Caused by External Iliac Artery Endofibrosis: A Case Report

JBJS Case Connect. 2024 Apr 12;14(2). doi: 10.2106/JBJS.CC.23.00685. eCollection 2024 Apr 1.

Abstract

Case: This report describes a 25-year-old female professional triathlete with right external iliac artery endofibrosis (EIAE) that was definitively diagnosed on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance images obtained immediately after treadmill running. The EIAE was treated by percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. By 8 weeks after surgery, she had no symptoms of claudication or pain in the right thigh after a 1-hour running session. There has been no recurrence in 1 year postoperatively.

Conclusion: EIAE is a rare condition and difficult to diagnose in a timely manner because symptoms and radiographic imaging features appear only during intense exercise. Our patient was successfully treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Exercise
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Iliac Artery* / diagnostic imaging
  • Lower Extremity
  • Pain
  • Vascular Diseases*