Management of a recalcitrant periprosthetic fluid collection

Axillofemoral bypass grafts have been in common use for more than 20 years in the treatment of severe aortoiliac occlusive disease in poor-risk patients. A persistent periprosthetic fluid collection is an unusual complication of this procedure. We describe a technique by which a tense periprosthetic collection was kept successfully decompressed by the construction of a "window" from the cavity to the peritoneum. In our hands it proved to be safely and easily performed with the patient given local anesthetics; no morbidity occurred.