Harvesting the saphenous vein with surrounding tissue for CABG provides long-term graft patency comparable to the left internal thoracic artery: results of a randomized longitudinal trial.

Objective: Conventional harvesting of the saphenous vein in coronary artery bypass surgery produces vessel damage that contributes to graft failure. A novel "no touch" technique provides high short- and long-term patency rates.

Method: This randomized longitudinal trial compares graft patency of two patient groups undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery.