Objectives: To analyse the influence of risk factors on the outcome of femorotibial reconstructions for chronic critical leg ischaemia.
Design: A longitudinal observational study of patients undergoing femorotibial reconstruction.
Setting: A regional hospital and an academic referral centre.
Materials: One hundred and eighty-eight patients undergoing 209 reconstructions to the tibial vessels for chronic critical leg ischaemia, 149 of them with in situ vein grafts.
Chief outcome measures: Graft patency, leg salvage and survival rates.
Main results: Severity of preoperative ischaemia influenced the immediate outcome of reconstruction. Increasing age did not influence graft patency, leg salvage or survival rates. A combination of female sex and diabetes was associated with low graft patency and leg salvage (52% and 42% at 18 months). Diabetes was associated with a decreased survival.
Conclusions: With proper patient selection, patency and leg salvage rates in older (> 80 years) patient groups with multiple risk factors justify an active reconstruction policy.