The use of by-pass grafts for obstructive lesions of tibial and peroneal arteries.

Lesions of the distal arteries of the leg are of similar frequency and importance as proximal lesions. Most frequently distal and proximal lesions are present. When distal intraoperative arteriography is carried out before a femoropopliteal by-pass, 68% of cases have associated distal lesions. When the popliteal artery is occluded, the by-pass must extend to the tibio-peroneal trunk, a tibial artery or the peroneal artery. In this paper 79 of these distal by-passes are reported, together with the results. Although there are arterial lesions limited to the ankle, it is not frequent to find this type of pathology. Of 900 patients with occlusive disease treated surgically, we only found 35 such cases (3.9%). However, the presence of this lesion may endanger the function and the integrity of the limb. This paper describes the clinical picture and pathology of the disease process, as well as the treatment by short venous by-pass at the ankle.