Combined aortic and renal arterial reconstruction.

Vascular surgeons often suggest that combining renal arterial procedures with aortic replacement greatly increases morbidity and mortality. To evaluate this hypothesis we retrospectively reviewed 102 consecutive primary operations involving both renal arterial and aortic reconstruction. The patient population included 69 men and 33 women with an average age of 63 years. All aortic replacements were knitted Dacron grafts. One hundred twenty-eight renal arteries were revascularized with 104 vein or synthetic aortorenal bypass grafts, 12 arterial reimplantations, and three endarterectomies with vein patch. Thirty-five complications occurred in 24 patients with four hospital deaths. Postoperative hospitalization averaged less than 11 days. This study suggests that under optimal conditions renal arterial and aortic reconstructions can be combined without significantly increasing patient risk.