ABSTRACT Although the saphenous vein is a widely used conduit for coronary artery bypass grafting, revascularization using the saphenous vein as an aortocoronary bypass graft has shown disadvantages of lower long-term graft patency rates and subsequently worse clinical outcomes, compared with revascularization using the internal thoracic artery. Of the various efforts to overcome the limitations of vein conduit that are resulting from structural and functional differences from arterial conduit, recent technical improvement in no-touch vein composite graft construction and outcomes of revascularization using no-touch vein composite grafts based on the left internal thoracic artery will be discussed in this topic.

ABSTRACT The no-touch saphenous vein with surrounding pedicle tissue harvesting technique preserved endothelium and vessel wall integrity and demonstrated improved long-term saphenous vein conduit patency that was comparable to internal thoracic artery conduit patency. Despite improved saphenous vein conduit patency rates, there is a possibility that no-touch saphenous vein harvest may increase wound complication rates by increased tissue disruption, including venous and lymphatic channels. Comprehensive strategies to minimize leg wound complications after no-touch saphenous vein harvest are discussed.