The preoperative diagnostics include Doppler Ultrasound, digital arterial subtraction angiography (DSA), and CT- Angiographies. The indication for treating an asymptomatic PAA was a diameter > 2 cm. With the symptomatic PAA, the diameter of the PAA was unrelated. The ankle-brachial index (ABI) was preoperatively not fully documented, so these values were excluded from this study.
Vascular surgeons did all operations. The choice for which approach was performed was dependent on the anatomy. In urgent cases, the medial approach was chosen.
The first chosen graft material to be used in these operations was the vein graft.  When the vein graft was not anatomically available, then the prosthetic graft, PTFE and Dacron, was used instead. During the 3 to 4 postoperative days, the patients received parental heparin therapy, which was then converted to oral anticoagulants lifelong.   The patients also received anti-platelet therapy.
The superficial saphenous vein bypass was used in most of the vein bypasses. Almost all of the cases had the disease located in the P2 segment, but some had it located in the PI segment.
This study analyzes the PAA in 43 patients. Of the 43 patients, 10 were found to have bilateral PAA and, therefore, fell in more than one category. Consequently, the data shows the results of 53 patients in total.
Demographic Data
39 patients were male (91%) and 4 were female (9%). Fifteen patients were in the age group 60-69 (35%) and thirteen patients were in the age group from 70-79 (30%).