Redo bypass surgery to the infrapopliteal arteries for critical leg ischaemia

Objectives: to evaluate the results of redo bypass surgery to the infrapopliteal artery and the value of adjuvant arteriovenous fistula (AVF) in this setting. Design: retrospective study. Materials: fifty-one redo reconstructions to the infrapopliteal arteries were done for critical leg ischaemia in 45 patients who have had primary infrainguinal reconstructions to the popliteal artery in 20 cases (39%), the crural arteries in 18 (35%), and the pedal arteries in 13 (25%). Methods: a PTFE prosthesis was used in 21 cases (41%). A Miller cuff was used in 16 prosthetic grafts. Adjuvant AVF was added to three autogenous vein and 12 prosthetic grafts. Results: at 2 years, the primary patency rate was 42%, the secondary patency was 43%, the limb salvage was 67%, the survival was 77%, and 53% of patients were alive with salvaged leg. The primary patency rate with a vein graft was 44% at 1 year, with prosthesis plus AVF 67%, but with prosthesis without AVF only 19%. Secondary patency rates were similar. Prosthetic graft with AVF and those without AVF achieved a 1-year leg salvage rate of 100% and 51% respectively (p = 0.01). Patients with adjuvant AVF had a worse 2-year survival rate that those without AVF (31% vs 89%) (p = 0.007; RR: 8.87, CI 95%: 1.62 - 48.42). Conclusions: redo bypass surgery using autogenous vein graft may achieve satisfactory long-term results. The use of adjuvant AVF may improve patency of redo infrapopliteal prosthetic bypass grafts.