title: Autologous great saphenous vein tailored graft to replace an infected prosthetic graft in the groin.
abstract: The authors propose a technique using the autologous great saphenous vein to replace an infected prosthetic limb graft at the groin. The whole great saphenous vein is incised longitudinally and divided into 2 approximately equal segments, which are sewn side to side. The longitudinal edges of the resulting great saphenous vein are then joined and anastomosed side to side to form a conduit, whose caliber is twice the original vein's diameter. The authors have used this technique to replace 1 limb of a prosthetic aortofemoral bypass infected at the groin. After 5 years, the new venous conduit is patent, with no recurrent infection, dilation, or aneurysmal degeneration. If validated by further experiences, this might be an attractive alternative to restoring flow through clean tissue planes using extra-anatomic bypass or the femoral vein in the infected fields.
authors: Department of Surgical and Gastroenterological Sciences, University of Padua, School of Medicine; Padova, Italy.
authors: Bruno
authors: B
authors: Barbon
authors: Carmelo
authors: C
authors: Militello
authors: Aldo
authors: A
authors: De Rossi
authors: Bruno
authors: B
authors: Martella
authors: Enzo
authors: E
authors: Ballotta
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000601:surgery; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation / Q000379:methods*; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000601:surgery; D006119:Groin; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016459:Prosthesis-Related Infections / Q000601:surgery*; D012501:Saphenous Vein / Q000637:transplantation*; D014182:Transplantation, Autologous