Femoro-femoral or ilio-femoral bypass for unilateral inflow reconstruction?

Femoro-femoral and ilio-femoral bypass are two popular options for unilateral inflow reconstruction. In order to evaluate these alternative approaches, the records of 70 consecutive patients who underwent either femoro-femoral (n = 50) or ilio-femoral (n = 22) grafts were retrospectively reviewed. There were 46 men and 24 women, ranging in age from 27 to 84 years (mean: 66 years). Operative mortality was 10% for all femoro-femoral procedures, including 50% for emergent, 14% for synchronous, and 0% for solitary procedures; mortality was 9% for all ilio-femoral grafts including 20% for synchronous and 6% for solitary procedures. Among the elective solitary procedures, there was no significant difference with respect to operative time, blood loss, fluid requirement, time until resuming an oral diet, or duration of postoperative course for the two procedures. Five-year patency was 93% for all ilio-femoral and 57% for all femoro-femoral grafts. Although femoro-femoral bypass has been the more popular option for unilateral inflow reconstruction in this and other institutions, these findings justify the more wide-spread use of ilio-femoral bypass.