Reversed vein bypass to infrapopliteal arteries. Modern results are superior to or equivalent to in-situ bypass for patency and for vein utilization.

Abstract

In recent years many reports have attributed improved patency and improved vein utilization with lower extremity arterial bypass to infrapopliteal arteries to the use of the in-situ vein graft technique (ISVB). This report describes 110 reversed vein bypasses (RVB) to infrapopliteal arteries performed from 1980-1986. Thirty-three per cent of these patients did not have an intact ipsilateral greater saphenous vein. One hundred per cent of patients had autogenous RVB performed using a variety of techniques, including vein splicing, use of arm veins, lesser saphenous veins, branch veins, and use of graft origins distal to the common femoral artery. The life table patency figures for these grafts are 90%, 85%, and 85% at 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years, respectively. The life table limb salvage at 5 years is 93%. These figures for patency, vein utilization, and limb salvage for modern RVB to infrapopliteal arteries are clearly equal to or superior to any reported figures for ISVB. Results for RVB are greatly improved when compared with historic controls, as are results for ISVB. There is no evidence to date demonstrating superiority of one technique versus another.