THE ROLE OF SYMPATHECTOMY IN THE TREATMENT OF OBLITERATIVE PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASE.
The immediate good results of endarterectomy and vascular grafting have pushed sympathectomy into the background as a form of treatment for peripheral obliterative arterial diseases. There are, however, many instances in which the nature of the arterial disease prevents performance of direct arterial surgery. In these cases an increase in circulation to the skin may not only relieve pain and heal ulcers but also, not infrequently, save the limb from amputation or permit a minor rather than a major amputation.A consecutive group of 90 lumbar and cervicodorsal sympathectomies was reviewed. The majority of patients suffered from atherosclerosis; smaller numbers had Buerger's or Raynaud's disease. The assessment of patients, selection for surgery, technique of operation, its complications and early results are discussed. There was one death in this series of patients who ranged in age from 17 to 81 years. This study indicates that, although sympathectomy is not a panacea for obliterative arterial disease, neither is it an obsolete procedure.
D000671:Amputation, Surgical; D000792:Angiography; D001158:Arteries; D001162:Arteriosclerosis Obliterans; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005853:Geriatrics; D006801:Humans; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011928:Raynaud Disease; D013562:Sympathectomy; D013919:Thromboangiitis Obliterans; D014652:Vascular Diseases
AMPUTATION; ANGIOGRAPHY; ARTERIOSCLEROSIS OBLITERANS; DIABETIC ANGIOPATHIES; ELECTROCARDIOGRAPHY; GERIATRICS; POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS; RAYNAUD'S DISEASE; SYMPATHECTOMY; THROMBOANGIITIS OBLITERANS