The sequential femoropopliteal bypass graft. A five year experience.

(1) A five year experience with sequential bypass grafts for femoropopliteal tibial reconstruction is presented. (2) Twenty-nine consecutive grafts were performed in twenty-eight patients in whom the saphenous vein was absent or inadequate for grafting purposes. (3) The series contains a high percentage of women (57 per cent), diabetics (39 per cent), and patients requiring surgery because of rest pain or tissue necrosis (83 per cent). (4) There was no operative mortality and no significant operative morbidity. (5) The overall graft patency rate is 71 per cent, which is comparable to that obtained with standard bypass technics. (6) There was no late failures in the ten grafts that survived one year or more. (7) This procedure appears to be a useful method for bypass grafting to the popliteal or tibial arteries below the knee when the saphenous vein is absent or inadequate.