PTFE bypass to below-knee arteries : distal vein collar or not? A prospective randomised multicentre study

• BackgroundPatency and limb salvage after synthetic bypass to the arteries below-knee are inferior to that which can be achieved with autologous vein. Use of a vein collar at the distal anastomosis has been suggested to improve patency and limb salvage, a problem that is analysed in this randomised clinical study.MethodsPatients with critical limb ischaemia undergoing polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) bypass to below-knee arteries were randomly either assigned a vein collar or not in two groups – bypass to the popliteal artery below-knee (femoro-popliteal below-knee (FemPopBK)) and more distal bypass (femoro-distal bypass (FemDist)). Follow-up was scheduled until amputation, death or at most 5 years, whichever event occurred first.ResultsIn the FemPopBK and in the FemDist groups, 115/202 and 72/150 were randomised to have a vein collar, respectively. Information was available for 345 of 352 randomised patients (98%).At 3 years, primary patency was 26% (95% confidence interval (CI) 18–38) with a vein collar and 43 (33–58) without a vein collar for femoro-popliteal bypass and 20 (11–38), and 17 (9–33) for femoro-distal bypass, respectively. The corresponding figures for limb salvage were 64 (54–75) and 61 (50–74) for femoro-popliteal bypass, and 59 (46–76) and 44 (32–61) for femoro-distal bypass with and without a vein collar, respectively. Log-rank-test for the whole Kaplan–Meier life table curve showed no statistically significant differences with or without vein collar primary patency: p = 0.0853, p = 0.228; secondary patency: p = 0.317, p = 0.280; limb salvage: p = 0.757, p = 0.187 for FemPopBK and FemDist, respectively. The use of a vein collar did not influence patency or limb salvage.ConclusionThis study failed to show any benefit for vein collar with PTFE bypass to a below-knee artery.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Kirurgi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Surgery (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Aged

80 and over

Anastomosis

Surgical

methods

Angiography

Blood Vessel Prosthesis

Female

Femoral Artery

surgery

Follow-Up Studies

Humans

Ischemia

diagnosis

Leg

blood supply

Male

Polytetrafluoroethylene

Popliteal Artery

Prospective Studies

Saphenous Vein

transplantation

Tibial Arteries

Transplantation

Autologous

Treatment Outcome

Ultrasonography

Doppler

Duplex

PTFE bypass; Femoro-popliteal; Femoro-crural; Popliteal arteries; Tibial arteries; Vein collar; Critical limb ischaemia

MEDICINE

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