'Closed' in Situ Vein Infrainguinal Bypass

The autologous greater saphenous vein is considered to be the best bypass material for below knee femoropopliteal and femorocnual arterial reconstructions . . The history of the greater saphenous vein arterial bypass in humans started in 1949, with its first introduction by Kunlin. Upto 1959, when Rob performed the first in situ saphenous vein bypass, the reversed saphenous vein technique of Kunlin was the standard procedure. The first publication about the in situ bypass was written in 1962 by Karl Victor Hall. After tlus preliminary report, several optimistic reports, written by Hall, ConnOlly, May and Samuel followed. Despite the promissing results, the in situ bypass technique only achieved minimal popularity, mainly in Europe. It was not before Leather, Powers and Karmody published their historical publication in 1979 that the in situ bypass really was considered to be a worthy alternative for the "reversed" technique. Their excellent results received worldwide attention and contributed to the adoption of the in situ bypass technique in many major vascular surgery departments during the early eighties (including those in the USA).