Urgent pedal bypass grafting for salvage of a critically ischaemic limb with a thrombosed popliteal aneurysm

The absence of infra-popliteal runoff in patients with acute limb-threatening ischaemia due to thrombosed popliteal aneurysm entails a high risk of amputation. If sufficient runoff cannot be restored by thrombolysis of crural arteries or by thrombectomy, the only chance to salvage the limb is pedal bypass grafting. The authors present a clinical case of acute lower limb ischaemia in a patient with popliteal aneurysm thrombosis and occlusion of the crural arteries treated successfully with urgent pedal bypass grafting with distal anastomosis to the dorsal pedal artery.