Examination of race and infrainguinal bypass conduit use in the Society for Vascular Surgery Vascular Quality Initiative.

Background: Vein conduit is known to have better patency than prosthetic for infrainguinal bypass. Here we explore if racial disparities exist in infrainguinal bypass vein conduit use amid preoperative patient and systemic factors.
Methods: Retrospective Society for Vascular Surgery Vascular Quality Initiative data for 23,959 infrainguinal bypasses between 2003 and 2017 for occlusive disease were analyzed. For homogeneity, only infrainguinal bypasses originating from the common femoral artery were included. Demographics of patients receiving vein vs prosthetic were compared and logistic regression analyses were performed with race and preoperative factors to evaluate for predictors of vein conduit use.
Results: Adjusted regression models demonstrated black patients were 76% as likely ( p  < .001) and Hispanic patients 79% as likely ( p  = .003) to have vein conduit compared to white patients. Factors positively correlating with vein use included vein mapping, more distal bypass target, tissue loss or acute ischemia bypass indications, commercial insurance, and weight. Factors against vein use included advanced age, female gender, ASA class 4, urgent procedure, preoperative mobility limitation, prior CABG or leg bypass, prior smoking, preoperative anticoagulation, and a bypass performed in the Southern US or before 2012. While black and Hispanic patients were less likely to receive vein, they were vein mapped at similar or higher rates than other groups.
Conclusion: Racial disparities exist in conduit use for infrainguinal bypass, with black and Hispanic patients less likely to receive vein bypasses. However, the contribution of race to conduit selection is small in adjusted and unadjusted models. Overall, pre-operative variables in the Vascular Quality Initiative poorly predicted vein conduit use for infrainguinal bypass.