Different strategies exist in the treatment of chronic long occlusions of the superficial femoral artery and yet we still suffer a significant percentage of restenosis, re-occlusions and even major amputations, reason for continuous development of new techniques. One such technique is the recently developed minimal invasive remote endarterectomy, which shows promising patency rates and possibly less complications with earlier recovery. A more experienced and the most implemented technique is the suprageniculate femoropopliteal bypass graft, which, when using the saphenous vein, has proved durable. A randomized trial comparing both modalities was lacking so far, what makes the objective of this study a comparison of patency rates between those 2 techniques in a randomized fashion.
The objective of this study is to compare remote superficial femoral artery endarterectomy with suprageniculate bypass surgery in the treatment of long occlusions of the superficial femoral artery. The study hypothesis is that patency rates are comparable and therefore the minimal invasive remote superficial femoral artery endarterectomy can be considered in patients presenting with a long occlusion of the superficial femoral artery.