Which of the following statements about venous trauma is/are current?

D. Careful consideration should be made to repair the injured popliteal vein.

E. Anatomy of the venous system is more variable than anatomy of the arterial system.

DISCUSSION: Many patients treated by ligation of injured veins suffer no immediate or long-term sequelae. Unfortunately, there are patients who are difficult to identify initially who may have either acute venous hypertension or later suffer chronic venous insufficiency following ligation of large-caliber veins in the lower extremities. The popliteal vein is particularly important to repair if at all possible following injury, as are many of the larger-caliber central veins. Both civilian and military reports have documented that there is not an increased incidence of thrombophlebitis and/or pulmonary embolism associated with attempted repair of injured veins. In contrast to the arterial system, there are many more variations in venous anatomy. This complicates the evaluation of patients with injured veins with examples of a possible bifid popliteal vein and one to five channels comprising the superficial femoral vein.