Methods: Between 1985 and 2002, 22 patients underwent extra-anatomic bypass operations. Twenty patients (90.9%) were male and two patients (9.1%) were female with the mean age 46.4 ± 4.8 years (range, 17 to 69 years). Thirteen extra-anatomic bypass revascularizations (59.1%) were performed for lower extremities, and nine revascularizations (40.9%) were performed for upper extremities. Nine cases underwent femoro-femoral bypass, two cases underwent subclavio-femoral bypass, one case underwent axillo-femoro-femoral bypass, one case underwent left ilio-right femoral bypass. Four cases underwent subclavio-subclavian bypass, three cases underwent carotico-subclavian bypass, and two cases underwent aorto-axillary bypass. Nine patients recieved PTFE, five patients Dacron, eight patients reversed saphenous grafts.

Results: There was no operative mortality. The early morbidity was 13.5% with three cases. The late mortality was 4.5% with one patient due to cerebrovascular accident, and the late morbidity rate was 4.5% with one patient that suffered from late-term graft infection.

Conclusions: Extra-anatomic bypass procedures as alternative surgical approaches can be performed with low mortality and morbidity rates especially in patients with high risk.