ANGIOSCOPIC EVALUATION OF UNILATERAL AORTIC GRAFT LIMB THROMBECTOMY -IS IT HELPFUL

Purpose: Graft thrombectomy is often an effective method for restoring inflow in an occluded limb of an aortobifemoral graft. A major determ inant for its success is the completeness of thrombus removal from the graft, verification of which can be performed by angioscopy. Methods: A retrospective review since january 1989 identified 51 unilateral gr aft limb thrombectomy operations in 35 patients. At the discretion of the surgeon 20 of these procedures included angioscopic inspection of the graft for significant retained thrombus, which was found and retri eved in 11 (55%). Results: Visualization of the graft limb was very go od, but inspection of the graft body was not possible. There were no a ngioscopy-related complications. Within the first 4 months after graft limb thrombectomy and reconstruction, four of 20 patients in the grou p inspected by angioscopy and nine of 31 in the conventionally treated group had reocclusion of the treated limb. Conclusions: These results suggest that angioscopy can be a helpful adjunct in the successful in flow management of aortic graft limb thrombectomy to verify the comple teness of clot removal.