[Femoro-popliteal bypass above popliteal fossa with PTFE graft: which graft diameter is better?]

The paper presents the results of 80 femoro-popliteal bypasses above popliteal fossa for patients with lower limb atherosclerotic lesions that were fulfilled with the use of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) graft in the Department of Vascular Surgery, AV Vishnevsky Institute of Surgery, from February 1992 till December 2005. 50% of patients had lower limb ischemia grade IIb, 13.7% - grade III and 36.3% - grade IV. Distal circulation was good in 41.2%, satisfactory - in 48.5% and unsatisfactory - in 10.3% of patients. The technique of surgical reconstruction was conventional. In 50% of cases the diameter of PTFE grafts was 8 mm, in another 50% - 6 mm. A statistically significant difference in bypass patency was revealed between prostheses with different diameter in late postoperative period. For the 8-mm grafts the patency rate was 93%, 64% and 51% in 12, 30 and 60 months, respectively, while for the 6-mm grafts the same rate was 62%, 44% and 31%, respectively (p=0.004).