Long grafts in the treatment of critical ischaemia.

Forty-two woven 10-mm Dacron grafts were implanted from the common iliac artery to the distal popliteal artery in 38 patients with rest pain or gangrene. The long-term patency at 5 years was 50%, using life-table analysis. These results show that iliopopliteal Dacron grafts are effective in preventing major amputations of severely ischaemic limbs.