Outcomes of Critical Limb Ischemia in Hemodialysis Patients After Distal Bypass Surgery - Poor Limb Prognosis With Stage 4 Wound, Ischemia, and Foot Infection (WIfI)

Abstract

Background: Distal bypass is the first-line treatment for patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI). In Japanese high-volume centers, approximately half of these patients are on hemodialysis (HD). We have treated such patients first with bypass using a multidisciplinary perioperative strategy. We reveal the recent characteristics of patients who underwent distal bypass and the surgical outcomes in Japan, especially focusing on the foot conditions by using the wound, ischemia, and foot infection (WIfI) classification.

Methods and results: The 152 patients underwent distal bypass in a tertiary center hospital, and we compared patients on HD (HD group) to those not on HD (non-HD group). There were significant differences between the 2 groups in the overall survival, major adverse cardiac event-free survival and amputation-free survival (AFS) rates (P<0.0001). The procedural outcomes were analyzed via primary and secondary patency, and there was no difference. In the subanalysis of limb status using WIfI stage, the AFS rate of the HD group was significantly worse than that of the non-HD group for WIfI stage 4 patients.

Conclusions: The life and limb prognoses of patients with CLI and HD were worse than those of non-HD patients. There was no difference in surgical outcomes suggested by the graft patency rates between the 2 groups. AFS in WIfI stage 4 was significantly worse in the HD group, which indicated the importance of preoperative limb status. (Circ J 2016; 80: 2382-2387).