"Redo" surgery for late aorto-femoral graft occlusive failures

Experience of late failures of Dacron aortofemoral grafts is presented; about 70 cases observed during the past eight years on whom 105 subsequent operations were performed. One third of these patients were first operated upon by another surgical team. During the same period, 850 patients were submitted to reconstructive surgery of the abdominal aorta and iliac arteries either for atherosclerotic or for aneurysmal disease. It appears that conservative procedures like thrombectomy of the occluded limb are often insufficient, impossible, inappropriate or dangerous, even after restoration of a good deep femoral outflow. On the other hand, aggressive restoration of limbflow is generally necessary, with other various and ingenious direct or indirect reconstructive techniques for restitution of a good inflow and outflow. These techniques are usually successful (85%) and gain time against the major etiology of these late failures viz the development of atherosclerotic disease.