Should the greater saphenous vein be preserved in patients requiring arterial outflow reconstruction in the lower extremity?

Two patient groups were studied to determine the need to preserve the greater saphenous vein during femoral outflow reconstruction for later aortocoronary bypass procedures. First, 74 patients were followed to the time of death or to a minimum of 5 years after femoral outflow reconstruction was performed. Only four patients (5.4%) underwent subsequent aortocoronary bypass. The previous outflow procedures had no adverse effect on the quality of aortocoronary conduit. Risk factors were analyzed to help predict the incidence of later coronary revascularization after femoral outflow reconstruction was performed. The second group that was analyzed included 500 nearly consecutive patients who underwent aortocoronary bypass. In 15 of these patients (3%), there was inadequate saphenous vein for conduit use. In no case was the inadequacy of saphenous vein due to its previous use as outflow conduit in the leg. Only seven patients (1.4%) had had an outflow reconstruction prior to aortocoronary bypass. In conclusion, continued use of adequate greater saphenous vein as femoral outflow conduit is justified despite the high incidence of coronary artery disease in these patients.