Can Endarterectomy Be Useful in Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease with Critical Limb Ischemia?

Importance of thrombendarterectomy (TEA) had declined with the advent of bypass techniques and availability of prosthetic grafts, in patients with Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD). Recently, there had been a significant shift towards lower limb revascularization using endoluminal techniques. However, previously available data evaluating the long leg bypass or combined endoluminal and bypass procedures have been too anatomically heterogeneous to be easily applied to patients with infrainguinal disease and tissue loss. Clinical decision making in Complex multilevel or diffuse peripheral arterial occlusive disease with multiple co-morbidities especially associated coronary arterial disease is challenging. We describe twelve patients of iliofemoral arterial occlusive disease with tibiopopliteal arterial occlusive disease along with multiple co-morbidities like coronary arterial disease and diabetes mellitus who showed marked improvement with minimal post-operative morbidities after iliofemoral or ileopopliteal bypass grafting with endarterectomy of the tibiopopliteal segment and related review of the literature.