Background: Pedal bypass grafting has been the method of choice at Na Homolce Hospital's Vascular Surgery Department since 2008.
Methods and results: During the period from June 2008 to December 2011, 29 pedal bypass procedures were performed in 27 patients. No perioperative mortality was recorded. Early occlusion of the graft occurred in three patients and two patients experienced delayed occlusion. Loss of the limb as a result of graft occlusion was unavoidable in two cases and one amputation had to be performed despite a patent graft. The primary patency rate for the period under review is 82.75%, and we were able to salvage the limb in 89.65% of cases. Follow-up results for our cohort are comparable with those from other centres dealing with the same problem.
Conclusions: Pedal bypass has excellent early and long-term results and makes a significant contribution to reducing the number of major amputations of the lower limbs.