Reskeletonization of patent graft using ultrasonic scalpel in redo surgery.

A patent graft is one of the major concerns in redo cardiac surgery. A full skeletonization technique using an ultrasonic scalpel is a breakthrough method to harvest the internal thoracic artery, being first reported in 2000. Here, we describe a reskeletonization technique to safely dissect a patent internal thoracic artery graft using an ultrasonic scalpel in redo cardiac surgery after coronary artery bypass graft surgery. This technique can be used not only to expose the patent graft to simply mobilize or clamp it, but also to recycle a patent graft to revascularize other coronary arteries.