Intraoperative color Doppler sonography during renal artery revascularization

Intraoperative color Doppler sonography is emerging as a useful procedure for evaluating renal arteries during transaortic renal endarterectomy or bypass grafting. Technical difficulties encountered during surgical renal revascularization, such as intimal defects or flaps, partial or complete thrombosis, and anastomotic stenosis of the renal artery, can be difficult to defect and evaluate. Intraoperative color Doppler sonography allows evaluation at a time when the problem is often correctable. We have been performing intraoperative sonographic studies of the renal artery for several years and have studied 151 vessels. In this pictorial essay, we present some of our observations on these cases.