Femoropopliteal Bypass Is Not a Generic Procedure: A Survey of the Practice Patterns of the Florida Vascular Society

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether surgeons perform femoropopliteal bypass using standard or dissimilar methods. A questionnaire was mailed to all members of the Florida Vascular Society, which consists of 83 board-certified vascular surgeons. Fifty-three responded (62%). Eighty-one questions covered aspects of the intraoperative and postoperative technical details usually involved in performing femoropopliteal bypass. Surgeons performed between 10 and 80 (mean 38) femoropopliteal bypasses per year. Only seven (13%) surgeons were aware of their patency rates. The results of this study showed that surgeons are largely unaware of their patency rates. When the variables used in this study were considered, no two surgeons performed the procedure in an identical manner. This variation in practice pattern may account for the discrepancy in reported patency rates for femoropopliteal bypass.