THE VALUE OF OBTURATOR CANAL BYPASS - A REVIEW

Objective: To review the value of obturator canal bypass with respect to long-term results. Design: Case series and literature review. Setti ng: University of Vienna Medical School in Austria. Patients/Methods: Personal experience with 34 consecutive patients and 125 cases publish ed since 1982 with respect to patient data, patency, and survival are compared and jointly analyzed retrospectively. Interventions: Patients received obturator canal bypass for lesions of the pelvic or common f emoral vessels precluding orthotopic reconstruction. Main Outcome Meas ures: The rates of patient survival, limb salvage, and graft patency w ere analyzed. Results: The postoperative mortality rate in the present series was 14.7%. The limb salvage rate after 5 years was 76.5%. One- and 5-year secondary patency rates were 75.3% and 54.9%, respectively . All grafts in patients without atherosclerosis were patent at a medi an of 34 months. For 57 cases documented in the literature, 1- and 5-y ear patency rates were 70.8% and 59.7%, respectively. Combined analysi s of 90 obturator canal bypasses revealed rates of 72.7% and 56.9% of patent grafts at 1- and 5-years, respectively. Conclusions: The use of obturator canal bypass is recommended in deep groin infections and es pecially in patients with lesions of the pelvic vessels due to other o cclusive vascular disease.