Objective To identify the amputation rates and causative factors for failed revascularization leading to amputation in patients undergoing primary limb salvage procedures for lower-extremity vascular injuries. Methods This retrospective study was conducted at the vascular surgery department, Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto (SMBB) Institute of Trauma, Karachi, Pakistan. The data were collected from hospital record using the non-probability sampling technique. Patients aged 17-70 years, undergoing primary revascularization during April 2016 to March 2021, were included in the study. Patients with crush injuries/non-salvageable limbs underwent primary amputation, isolated deep femoral artery or crural arteries (non-limb threatening) injuries, and non-traumatic injuries like intravenous drug-induced or iatrogenic injuries were excluded. The data analysis is done using SPSS Version 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). A P-value of <0.05 was considered as significant. Results This study includes 56 patients of mean age 30.82 ± 9.29 years with male gender four times more affected than their counterpart. About 32% of patients were smokers, while 58% of patients had no co-morbidities. All patients presented with a mean time of 7.66 ± 1.69 hours of injury with an average of 1.14 arterial segments involved. The most frequent artery involved was popliteal artery (both above and below the knee), followed by superficial femoral artery injury constituting 50% and 26%, respectively, with arterial laceration and transection being common findings on exploration. Out of 56 patients, 27 (48.2%) had open fractures, 21 (37.5% ) closed fractures, and eight patients (14.3 % ) presented with dislocation as associated injuries. Following the procedure, secondary amputation was recorded in 18 (32.1%) patients. Thrombosis and infection were the leading causes of revascularization failure. Type of injury, segment of arterial injury, and associated bony injuries were associated with limb amputation. Conclusion Type and site of injury along with concomitant bony injuries are associated with major amputations after revascularization in lower-extremity arterial injuries.

Carotid artery disease is a significant contributor of diabetic patients' morbidity and mortality driven by its strong association with ischemic stroke. The link between carotid atherosclerosis and cerebrovascular or coronary artery disease is otherwise well established pointing to a high risk patient. This link gets particularly important in diabetic patients who demonstrate high rates of silent cardiovascular events, as a means of early detection of underlying atherosclerotic disease. Carotid ultrasonography now allows clinicians to visualize the characteristics of the carotid wall and lumen surfaces, to quantify the severity of local and systemic atherosclerosis and better guide the intensity of primary and secondary prevention strategies. Carotid revascularization remains the standard of care for high grade stenosis and while higher perioperative events and restenosis rates may be anticipated the benefits derived from the procedure still outweigh the risks. Current guidelines recommend carotid endarterectomy as a gold standard procedure; however carotid artery stenting can be a valid alternative in high medical risk symptomatic diabetic patients. Optimal glycemic control and confounding risk factor management can ameliorate short and longer term adverse events.

BackgroundBasilic transposition arteriovenous fistula (BT AVF) is a viable option for dialysis-dependent patients, which can be performed under either general or regional anesthesia. Regional anesthesia is reported to cause vascular dilatation during the perioperative period, leading to improved fistula success. Regional anesthesia is also considered safe as compared to general anesthesia in terms of hemodynamic stability. Limited and conflicting data are available comparing regional versus general anesthesia in terms of fistula maturation and patency. We aimed to compare the maturation, one-year patency rates, and complication rates in patients undergoing single-stage BT AVF in regional versus general anesthesia. MethodsThis retrospective observational study was conducted on patients undergoing single-stage BT AVF from January 2016 to December 2019. Patients were divided into regional (RA) vs. general anesthesia (GA) groups and compared in terms of maturation, one-year patency, and perioperative complication rates. ResultsOut of 152 patients, 110 (72.37%) were in GA while 42 (27.63%) were in the RA group. Elderly, female, diabetic, ischemic heart disease, and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) class IV patients were more in the RA group. Other comorbid and vascular access-related factors were comparable between the groups. A trend toward higher maturation rates (97.6% vs. 92.1%) and one-year patency rates (62.5% vs. 56.6%) was observed in the RA vs. GA group, however, the difference did not attain statistical significance, p=0.359 and p=0.327, respectively. The rate of access abandonment was higher in the GA group (43.4% vs. 37.5%). The most prevalent cause of abandonment was death in the RA group while it was access failure in the GA group. Overall complication rates were comparable between both groups (20.2 % vs. 17.5%, p=0.816). ConclusionRegional anesthesia is a useful technique with potentially improved maturation and patency rates. Nevertheless, an assumed benefit of regional anesthesia in terms of anesthesia-related complications was not observed.

Diabetes is considered a risk factor for arteriovenous fistula failure and increased perioperative complications; but this view is not proven for patients undergoing brachiobasilic transposition arteriovenous fistula (BBT-AVF). Fifty-one (68.9%) diabetic and 23 (31.08%) non-diabetic patients undergoing single-stage BBT-AVF were compared in terms of perioperative complications, access maturation and patency rates at The Aga Khan University Hospital from between January 2016 to December 2017. Diabetics were elder and more obese. The perioperative complications 19 (37.2%) vs. 8 (34.7%), and access maturation rates were compared (93.2% vs. 95.5%) between the two groups. At 6 months, access patency in diabetics was lower compared to non-diabetics (64.7% vs. 87.0%). Similar trend was noted at 12 and 24 months in both groups. This study showed that the diabetic and non-diabetic were comparable in terms of perioperative complications and maturation rate. However, short term patency rate was lower in diabetics compared to non-diabetics.