Renal failure as a complication to aortoiliac and iliac reconstructive surgery

A retrospective analysis has been undertaken of 17 patients among 221 who developed renal failure after aortic and/or iliac reconstructions because of occlusive disease (incidence 8%). In two renal artery occlusion was causing anuria, in the others tubular necrosis was considered to be responsible. This complication is multifactorial and factors of importance may be: operative trauma, haemorrhagic and other postoperative complications with reoperations, age and preoperative angiography. The patients with postoperative renal failure were older, the preoperative serum creatinine slightly higher, operation time longer and intraoperative haemorrhage greater than in patients without postoperative renal failure. Renal insufficiency after aorto-iliac reconstruction is a symptom with poor prognosis, the mortality being significantly higher (35%) than among the 204 patients without renal failure (2.0%). No simple dominating risk factor has been found in this material.