A decade of experience with dorsalis pedis artery bypass: analysis of outcome in more than 1000 cases.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to review our experience over the last decade with the dorsalis pedis bypass for ischemic limb salvage in patients with diabetes mellitus.

METHODS: The study was a retrospective analysis of a computerized vascular registry and chart review. From January 10, 1990 to January 11, 2000, 1032 bypasses to the dorsalis pedis artery were performed in 865 patients (27.6% of the 3731 lower extremity arterial bypass procedures performed in that time period). Five hundred ninety-seven patients (69%) were male, with a mean age of 66.8 years. Ninety-two percent had diabetes mellitus. All procedures were done for limb salvage. Conduits included 317 nonreversed saphenous vein (30.7%), 273 in situ (26.4%), 235 reversed vein (22.8%), 170 arm vein (16.5%), 35 other vein (3.4%), and two polytetrafluoroethylene (0.2%) grafts. The inflow arteries were as follows: 294 common femoral (28.5%), 550 popliteal (53.2%), 114 superficial femoral (11%), and 74 other (7.2%).

RESULTS: The mortality rate within 1 month of surgery was 0.9%, and 42 grafts (4.2%) failed in the same interval, although 13 were successfully revised. In a follow-up period that ranged from 1 to 120 months (mean, 23.6 months), primary patency, secondary patency, limb salvage, and patient survival rates were 56.8%, 62.7%, 78.2%, and 48.6%, respectively at 5 years and 37.7%, 41.7%, 57.7%, and 23.8% at 10 years. Both polytetrafluoroethylene grafts failed in less than 1 year. Primary graft patency was worse in female patients (46.5% female versus 61.6% male at 5 years; P <.009) but better in patients with diabetes (65.9% diabetes mellitus versus 56.3% non-diabetes mellitus at 4 years; P <.04). Saphenous vein grafts performed better than all other conduits with a secondary patency rate of 67.6% versus 46.3% at 5 years (P <.0001). Multivariate analysis showed that length of stay greater than 10 days and dorsalis pedis bypass for the surgical indication of previous graft occlusion were independently predictive of worse graft patency at 1 year and use of saphenous vein as conduit was predictive of better patency.

CONCLUSION: Dorsalis pedis bypass is durable with a high likelihood of ischemic foot salvage over many years. Saphenous vein is the preferred conduit when available. Short vein grafts from distal inflow sites are possible in more than 50% of cases. These results justify the routine use of pedal arterial reconstruction for patients with diabetes with ischemic foot complications.