Surgical management of unilateral groin infection after aortofemoral bypass

The most common site for infection in reconstructive peripheral vascular operations is the inguinal area. Treatment is controversial, with recommendations ranging from antiseptic irrigation techniques to total graft excision. We present a plan for the surgical management of unilateral groin infection after aortofemoral bypass that was used in five patients. After assuring the viability of the extremity independent of the prosthesis, by compression of the graft limb with a concurrent Doppler ankle to wrist ratio index exceeding 0.3, vascular repair was performed as a two-stage procedure combining clean retroperitoneal detachment of the infected graft limb and inguinal excision of the involved graft limb followed by delayed vascular reconstruction by extra-anatomic cross femoral bypass. This has shown to be a reliable surgical method for salvaging the aortofemoral bypass with unilateral groin infection.