Removal of the thrombosed prosthetic axillofemoral graft.
Late thrombosis of prosthetic graft material is rarely managed successfully by simple thrombectomy or thrombolytic therapy. Replacement with a new graft may be necessary. Although several techniques have been described, mobilizing and removing an old thrombosed prosthetic graft is usually extremely difficult because of a firm attachment to its tunnel. This attempt is more difficult especially for ringed grafts. We describe a simple technique of using an internal varicose vein stripper for the removal of such a late thrombosed axillofemoral spiral polytetrafluoroethylene graft and positioning a new graft into the old tunnel.
Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, 06018 Etlik, Ankara, Turkey. ozals@yahoo.com
E
E
Ozal
B S
BS
Oz
N
N
Kucukarslan
C
C
Gunay
A T
AT
Yilmaz
H
H
Tatar
D001366:Axillary Artery; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D020878:Device Removal / Q000379:methods*; D005263:Femoral Artery; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene; D013525:Surgical Instruments; D017131:Thrombectomy; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000601:surgery*
D011138:Polytetrafluoroethylene