Annals of vascular surgery
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Review Historical Article
Lead, Follow, or Get out of the Way-How Bold Young Surgeons Brought Vascular Surgery into Clinical Practice from the Korean War Battlefield.
The maturation of vascular surgery into widespread clinical practice was accelerated by events that took place in Korea during the conflict of 1950-1953. Early research and anecdotal clinical trials were just then resulting in publication of cases of the successful vascular repairs and replacements. Noncrushing vascular clamps were being developed and limited manufacture begun. ⋯ The young surgeons, mostly draftees and reservists, resisted rigid doctrine and orders to desist, and in the face of threatened punishment, were committed to do the right thing, and ultimately went on to change military medicine and vascular surgery. The "on-the-job" training in vascular surgery that was carried out in Korea by military surgeons who demonstrated substantially higher limb salvage rates energized the field from the battlefield laboratory. Many wounded soldiers had limbs saved by the new techniques in vascular repair pioneered by surgeons in the Korean War, and countless thousands who entered civilian hospitals for emergency vascular surgery in subsequent years also ultimately benefited from their work.
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Comparative Study
Factors Associated with Amputation after Popliteal Vascular Injuries.
Popliteal artery trauma has the highest rate of limb loss of all peripheral vascular injuries. The objectives of this study were to evaluate outcomes after popliteal vascular injury and to identify predictors of amputation. ⋯ Popliteal vascular injuries continue to be associated with a high risk of amputation. Those patients undergoing attempted limb salvage should be revascularized expediently, but selected patients may undergo orthopedic stabilization before vascular repair without increased risk of limb loss.
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Comparative Study
Dialysis Access Surgery: Does Anesthesia Type Affect Maturation and Complication Rates?
Creation of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the preferred method of establishing long-term dialysis access. There are multiple anesthetic techniques used for patients undergoing this surgery including general endotracheal intubation, laryngeal mask airway, regional anesthesia with nerve blocks, and monitored anesthesia care with local infiltration. It is unclear what effect the method of anesthesia has on AVF creation success rate. It is our objective to determine if anesthesia type affects success of these surgeries defined by complication and maturation rates. ⋯ Our study shows that despite anesthesia type, outcomes in terms of maturation and complication rate are not statistically different in AVF creation surgeries. The use of monitored anesthesia care with local anesthesia may improve operative efficiency in terms of time in the operating room and in the recovery unit and therefore may be the preferred method of anesthesia. This recommendation may also parallel the preference to avoid general anesthesia in a patient population with more medical comorbidities. It is our conclusion that dialysis access surgery should therefore be performed under local anesthesia with monitored anesthesia care.
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Case Reports
Mycotic Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Secondary to Septic Embolism of a Thoracic Aorta Graft Infection.
Mycotic aneurysms account for 1% of abdominal aortic aneurysms. There are very few cases published that describe the formation of mycotic aneurysms after septic embolism due to graft infection. We present the first case to our knowledge to be described in the literature of a mycotic aneurysm caused by septic embolism derived from a thoracic aorta graft infection, treated with conventional surgery leading to a successful outcome and evolution.