Pharmacological salvage of a combined distal bypass and free flap with catheter-directed thrombolysis

With recent improvements in microvascular techniques, the use of combined distal bypass and free-flap transfer has been advocated for salvaging the critically ischaemic limb in extreme conditions. Distal bypass, however, carries an inherent risk of graft failure due to thrombosis, and this may threaten the viability of the free flap and, indeed, the lower limb. We present the case of a 66-year-old man with acute-on-chronic ischaemia of his left leg and rectus abdominis free flap. Despite a prolonged ischaemic time of 72 h, both were successfully salvaged using catheter-directed recombinant tissue plasminogen activator. This is previously unreported in the literature. (C) 2002 The British Association of Plastic Surgeons.