Critical Chronic Peripheral Arterial Disease: Does Outcome Justify Crural or Pedal Bypass Surgery in Patients With Advanced Age or With Comorbidities?

Background We wanted to know the effect of comorbidity, age, and gender on the outcome after surgical below-knee revascularization for critical chronic limb ischemia. Methods This is a retrospective study of 624 consecutive patients who underwent below-knee bypass surgery between January 1996 and December 2005 because of chronic peripheral arterial disease (PAD). Patients’ characteristics were: diabetes mellitus (DM) n = 445 (71%), coronary artery disease (CAD) n = 310 (49%), dialysis-dependent renal insufficiency (dRI) n = 88 (14%), age >70 years n = 279 (44%), male n = 423 (68%), PAD Fontaine’s stage III n = 105 (17%), and PAD stage 4 n =519 (83%). All patients had Trans Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) C and D lesions, all were treated with a vein bypass to a crural artery n = 354 (57%) and to a pedal artery n = 270 (43%). Kaplan–Meier analysis and multivariate analysis were performed. Results The early results were as follows. The 30-day major amputation rate was n = 43 (7%). CAD, dRI, age, and gender did not influence major amputation rate, whereas patients with diabetes had a lower risk of early amputation than those without diabetes. (hazard ratio: 0.49, 95% confidence interval: 0.25-0.95, p < 0.05). The 30-day mortality rate was n = 31 (5%) and was uninfluenced by DM, CAD, and gender. Patients with dRI and octogenarians had a high risk of early death (dRI: 13.6%, octogenarians 9.4%). The late results were as follows. Follow-up rates were: limb salvage n = 596 (95.5%) and survival n = 622 (99.7%). The limb salvage rates at 1, 3, and 5 years were 79.1%, 72.1%, and 66.4%, respectively, and were uninfluenced by DM, CAD, dRI, age, and gender. The mortality rates at 1-, 3-, and 5-years were 79%, 63.4%, and 47.3%, respectively. Comorbidities such as CAD, dRI, and age of >70 years reduced life expectancy significantly. DM did not influence 1, 3 and 5 years of survival. The 5-year survival rates as estimated by Kaplan–Meier analysis after revascularization were: DM, 46%; CAD, 38%; dRI, 19%; and age >70 years, 37%. Conclusion Advanced age and comorbidities reduce life span but not the chance of avoiding major amputation after below-knee bypass surgery for critical limb ischemia.