Summary: Acute lower limb ischaemia poses a major threat to limb survival. For many years surgical thromboembolectomy was the mainstay of treatment. Recent years have brought an endovascular revolution in the management of acute lower limb ischaemia. A wide range of endovascular procedures can nowadays be employed, providing results at least as good as the traditional surgical approach. This paper is an overview of currently utilised endovascular options as well as recent modifi cations of standard surgical techniques.

Purpose. The aim of this study was to present abdominal wall reconstruction using a porcine vascular graft seeded with MSC (mesenchymal stem cells) on rat model. Material and Methods. Abdominal wall defect was prepared in 21 Wistar rats. Acellular porcine-vascular grafts taken from aorta and prepared with Triton X were used. 14 aortic grafts were implanted in place, of which 7 grafts were seeded with rat MSC cells (Group I), and 7 were acellular grafts (Group II). As a control, 7 standard polypropylene meshes were used for defect augmentation (Group III). The assessment method was performed by HE and CD31 staining after 6 months. The mechanical properties have been investigated by Zwick&Roell Z0.5. Results. The strongest angiogenesis and lowest inflammatory response were observed in Group I. Average capillaries density was 2.75, 0.75, and 1.53 and inflammatory effect was 0.29, 1.39, and 2.72 for Groups I, II, and III, respectively. The means of mechanical properties were 12.74 ± 1.48, 7.27 ± 1.56, and 14.4 ± 3.7 N/cm in Groups I and II and control, respectively. Conclusions. Cell-seeded grafts have better mechanical properties than acellular grafts but worse than polypropylene mesh. Cells improved mechanical and physiological properties of decellularized natural scaffolds.

Current intra-arterial catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT) protocols recommend treatment with small doses of a thrombolytic agent, which excludes patients in need of urgent revascularization. We evaluated the effects of accelerated thrombolysis utilizing increased recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) doses. Forty-one patients with acute, thrombotic limb ischemia (ALI) were treated using accelerated CDT. The treatment consisted of an initial dose of 10 mg rt-PA for 30 minutes followed by a 3-hour course of a continuous intra-arterial 10 mg/hour rt-PA infusion. Simultaneously, intravenous unfractionated heparin (500 IU/hour) was administered. No deaths occurred. Satisfactory lysis was achieved in 37 of the 41 patients (90.2%). All significant underlying lesions were corrected (89.2%). Complications developed in nine patients (22%); the most frequent complication (four patients, 9.8%) was puncture site hematoma. The reintervention rate was 2.6% and 15.4% at the 1 and 6-month follow-ups, respectively. The major amputation rate was 10.3% and 12.8% at the 1 and 6-month follow-ups, respectively. Outflow compromise was adversely related to successful outcome at the 6-month follow-up (p=0.01). In conclusion, this study confirms the effectiveness and safety of the accelerated CDT regimen for treatment of thrombotic ALI at a single center, but requires confirmation in further studies.

Visceral adhesions to polypropylene mesh are significantly reduced because of acetic acid extracted collagen coating. The collagen coating does not increase complications or induce alterations of polypropylene mesh incorporation.

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The role of endovascular procedures in the treatment of acute lower limb ischemia (ALI) is expanding. For treatment, the choice between surgical or endovascular is still debated. The aim of this study was to identify factors that determine the selection of treatment. This study included 307 ALI patients (209 with thrombosis). Patient details, factors affecting the procedure choice, and outcomes were analyzed. The majority of patients were operated on (52.4%). Surgery was more frequent in embolic patients with embolus (odds ratio (OR) 33.85; 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.22–184.19, p < 0.0001), severe ischemia (OR 1.79; 95% CI 1.2–2.66, p = 0.0041), and active cancer (OR 4.99; 95% CI 1.26–19.72, p = 0.02). Tibial arteries involvement was negatively related to surgery (OR 0.25; 95% CI 0.06–0.95, p = 0.04). The complications and amputation rates were comparable. Reinterventions were more common in the endovascular group (19 (20.2%) vs. 17 (8.9%), p = 0.007). The six-month mortality was higher in the operated patients (12.6% vs. 3.2%, respectively, p = 0.001). The determinants of the treatment path are ischemia severity, concurrent cancer, embolus, and peripheral lesion location. Modification of the Rutherford acute lower limb ischemia classification is required to improve the decision-making in patients with profound ischemia.

Abdominal wall hernia correction is one of the most common surgical procedures. 85,000 hernia operations are performed in Poland each year. Modern techniques of abdominal wall reconstruction utilize surgical implants for fascial defect closure. In the 70s and the 80s of the last century, these techniques gained widespread acceptance among surgeons. Significant improvement of results in terms of recurrences was observed. Treatment of large abdominal wall defects became possible. Three types of surgical implants were developed early: polipropylene (PP), poliethylene (PE) and politetrafluoroethylene (PTfE). Unfortunately, negative effects of implanted material soon became apparent. Excessive native tissues inflammatory response to the implanted material, leading to multiple complications was observed. Recurrences due to fibrosis, chronic regional pain, stiffness of the operation site, intestinal adhesions and fistulas, infertility and infections were reported. In some cases the use of standard synthetic implant was contraindicated. Analyzing drawbacks of the standard hernia implants, the medical industry developed new materials to improve treatment results. The most popular, currently utilized synthetic materials, are presented in this review in the context of clinical results (Adv Clin Exp Med 2014, 23, 1, 135-142).

AEF treatment still carries a significant mortality and morbidity. It seems that extraanatomic reconstruction is the best possible therapeutic modality provided the patient's condition allows for a prolonged operation. We advise cautious use of the silver-coated polyester prostheses for "in situ" reconstructions in cases with AEF.