Rheocarna therapy after distal bypass surgery.

Rheocarna therapy has recently been reported to improve peripherally measured blood flow as an adjuvant treatment after revascularization in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia. We investigated whether skin perfusion pressure and continuous walking distance were improved by performing Rheocarna therapy after distal bypass surgery. This study included 10 patients who underwent Rheocarna therapy after distal bypass surgery between June 2022 and March 2023. Rheocarna therapy was performed five times after distal bypass surgery, and the skin perfusion pressure and continuous walking distance after distal bypass surgery were compared with those after Rheocarna therapy. The average age was 74.7 years, and nine patients (90%) were male. All patients were undergoing dialysis, with an average of 14.5 years of dialysis history. There were six patients (60%) with diabetes mellitus and five (50%) with hyperlipidemia. The ankle-brachial index was 0.62 ± 0.36 before distal bypass surgery and 0.936 ± 0.16 after Rheocarna therapy, indicating a significant increase ( = 0.0117). Skin perfusion pressure dorsalis pedis was 71.5 ± 27.0 mmHg after Rheocarna therapy, showing a marked increase from the preoperative value ( = 0.0020). Skin perfusion pressure planta pedis was 65.0 ± 26.3 mmHg after Rheocarna therapy, which was a significant increase from the preoperative value ( = 0.0293). The continuous walking distance was 78.5 ± 102.7 m after the Rheocarna therapy, which was a significant increase from the preoperative value ( = 0.0039). The skin perfusion pressure and continuous walking distance were significantly improved by Rheocarna therapy after distal bypass surgery.