Annals of vascular surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Multicenter randomized prospective trial comparing a pre-cuffed polytetrafluoroethylene graft to a vein cuffed polytetrafluoroethylene graft for infragenicular arterial bypass.
Poor patency of synthetic grafts for infragenicular revascularization has led to use of distal vein patches or cuffs. The aim of this study was to compare the distally widened Distaflo PTFE graft, which mimics a vein cuff, with a PTFE graft with distal vein modification. In this prospective, randomized, multicenter trial we compared use of a precuffed PTFE graft wit that of PTFE grafts with distal vein modification for infragenicular revascularization in patients with critical limb ischemia without saphenous vein. ⋯ At 1 year and 2 years, the limb salvage rate was 72% and 65% for the precuffed group and 75% and 62% in the vein cuffed group (p = 0.88). Although numbers are small and follow-up short, this midterm analysis shows similar results for the Distaflo precuffed grafts and PTFE grafts with vein cuff. A precuffed graft is a reasonable alternative conduit for infragenicular reconstruction in the absence of saphenous vein and provides favorable limb salvage.