Endoscopic saphenous vein harvest decreases leg wound complication in coronary artery bypass grafting patients

Background: Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is the most common procedure performed in adult cardiovascular surgery. The most frequently used conduit is the greater saphenous vein. Using traditional methods, the complication rate of the leg is relatively high (up to 24%). To decrease the complication rate, we used the Endo-Path to harvest the greater saphenous vein. Methods and Results: From May 1997 through March 1999, a total of 135 patients received the CABG operation. We excluded the patients who died immediately postoperatively or had concomitant surgical procedures. Sixty patients received the endoscopic saphenous vein harvest procedure (group A), while another 59 patients (group B) did not. No important differences were noted between the two groups in respect to the number of distal anastomoses, length of harvested vein, total surgical time, and length of ICU stay. However, the leg wound complication rate decreased from 20.3% to 5.0% (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Although the long-term patency rate needs time to be proven, the endoscopic greater saphenous vein harvest method is an attractive and effective method.