Journal «Angiology and Vascular Surgery» • 

2017 • VOLUME 23 • №2

A new method of endoscopic harvesting of the great saphenous vein in an open system

Vechersky Yu.Yu., Zatolokin V.V., Petlin K.A., Akhmedov Sh.D., Shipulin V.M.

Scientific Research Institute of Cardiology, Tomsk, Russia

We examined a total of 246 patients subjected to coronary artery bypass grafting with the use of the great saphenous vein (GSV). The patients were subdivided into two groups. Group One (n=121) patients endured procurement of the great saphenous vein by a new endoscopic technique in an open system with the help of the equipment Karl Storz and electric dissector Ligasure. In Group Two (n=125) patients the vein was harvested by means of the traditional open method. In all patients we evaluated complications in the early postoperative period 13±2.5 days after the operation. The rate of relapsing angina pectoris in both Groups turned out to be low and did not differ (1.65% in Group One and 1.6% in Group Two). Patients of the both groups differed significantly by the incidence of postoperative complications on the lower limbs in the zone of procurement of the GSV (9.09% in Group One and 26.4% in Group Two, p=0.131). Group Two patients (open method of procurement of the GSV) were considerably more often found to have developed cases of lymphorrhoea, haematomas, disjunction of the sutures (21.6%) compared with Group One (endoscopic method) patients (3.3%) (p=0.167), which in 10.4% of cases required secondary surgical debridement of wounds in patients after the open harvest of the GSV. Eventually, the length of hospital stay for Group Two patients increased significantly (15±4.5 days) compared with Group One patients (8±1.1 days) (p=0.361).

Hence, the endoscopic method of harvesting the GSV in the open CO2 system makes it possible to obtain a good cosmetic effect on the lower limbs after the operation, to considerably decrease the complications rate, thus reducing the length of hospital stay.

KEY WORDS: great saphenous vein, coronary artery bypass grafting, minimally invasive surgery, endoscopy.

P. 136

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