Should Duplex Ultrasonography Be Performed for Surveillance of Femoropopliteal and Femorotibial Arterial Prosthetic Bypasses

Duplex ultrasonography (DU) has been shown to be beneficial for surveillance of lower extremity vein bypasses. However, DU as part of surveillance program for prosthetic grafts is not widely accepted. The purpose of this report was to determine if DU could reliably detect failing prosthetic infrainguinal arterial bypasses and if there were differences in predictability between femoropopliteal (FP) and femorotibial (FT) prosthetic grafts. Between January 1992 and December 1997, 89 infrainguinal grafts in 66 patients were entered into our postoperative prosthetic graft surveillance protocol, which included clinical evaluation, segmental pressures, pulse volume recordings, and DU performed every 3 months. Patients with follow-up of less than 3 months were excluded unless the graft thrombosed. An abnormal DU considered predictive of graft failure included (1) peak systolic velocity (PSV) >300 cms/sec at inflow or outflow arteries, in the graft or at an anastomosis (unless an adjunctive arteriovenous fistula had been performed); (2) adjacent PSV ratio >3.0; (3) uniform PSVs 75% the luminal diameter of the graft, at an anastomosis, or in an inflow/outflow artery was confirmed by operative or arteriographic findings or if the graft thrombosed after an abnormal DU but before intervention. Our results support the routine use of DU as a part of a graft surveillance protocol for femorotibial, but not femoropopliteal, prosthetic grafts.