During procedure

During the Procedure

Femoral popliteal bypass surgery requires a stay in the hospital. Procedures may vary depending on your condition and your physician's practices.

Generally, femoral popliteal bypass surgery follows this process:

1. You will be asked to remove any jewelry or other objects that may interfere with the procedure.
2. You will be asked to remove your clothing and will be given a gown to wear.
3. An intravenous (IV) line will be started in your arm or hand. Additional catheters may be inserted in your neck and wrist to monitor the status of your heart and blood pressure, as well as for obtaining blood samples. An alternate site for the additional catheters includes the subclavian (under the collarbone) area.
4. You will be positioned on the operating table, lying on your back.
5. The anesthesiologist will continuously monitor your heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, and blood oxygen level during the surgery. You will be connected to an ECG monitor that records the electrical activity of the heart and monitors the heart during the procedure using small, adhesive electrodes.
6. A femoral popliteal bypass may be performed under local anesthesia. You will not feel the area to be operated on. You will receive a sedative medication in your IV before the procedure to help you relax. However, you will likely remain awake, but sleepy, during the procedure.
7. Under local anesthesia, you will receive oxygen through a nasal cannula, a tube that fits in your nose.
8. Femoral popliteal bypass may also be performed under general anesthesia (you will be asleep). Once you are sedated, a breathing tube will be inserted through your throat into your lungs and you will be connected to a ventilator, which will breathe for you during the surgery.
9. A catheter will be inserted into your bladder to drain urine.
10. You will be given a dose of antibiotics through your IV to help prevent infection.
11. The skin over the surgical site will be cleansed with an antiseptic solution.
12. The physician will make an incision (cut) in the leg. The site of the incision will depend on the section of the arteries to be bypassed. The physician will determine whether to use a prosthetic graft or a vein from the leg to bypass the diseased artery.
13. Once the physician has attached the graft onto the diseased artery, an arteriogram may be performed to confirm that blood flow has been restored to the leg through the new bypass graft.
14. You may receive blood pressure medication through your IV during and after the procedure to keep your blood pressure within a certain range.
15. The incision will be sutured together. A sterile bandage/dressing will be applied.