Comparison of B-mode real-time ultrasound scanning with arteriography in detecting vascular defects during surgery

Real-time B-mode ultrasonography was compared with arteriography to determine its usefulness in detecting vascular defects immediately after lower extremity bypass graft reconstruction. Both procedures were employed in 40 patients to locate strictures, thrombi, and intimal flaps. Defects were discovered in 12 patients. Four of these defects were considered clinically insignificant and not worth the risk of reentry; of the remaining eight patients in whom significant defects were seen on ultrasonography, arteriography, or both, seven were reexplored. The accuracy of ultrasonography and arteriography was 94.4% and 83.3%, respectively. It is concluded that ultrasonography is comparable with arteriography in the detection of vascular defects during surgery.