The influence of age on long-term survival pattern of patients operated on for lower limb ischaemia

Objective: To study the long-term survival patterns of patients subjected to surgery for lower limb ischaemia. Design: A retrospective clinical study. Setting: University Hospital. Materials: A series of 1411 patients older than 50 years operated on for all stages of lower limb ischaemia. Chief outcome measures: Observed and expected long-term survival rates were calculated. Relative survival, defined as the ratio of the observed to the expected survival rates, runs studied for age influence. Main results: The observed 10 year survival rate of 26% was significantly lower than the expected of 49%. Although women were 8 years older than men at the time of the operation they had similar long-term survival and relative survival. An inverse proportionality was found between the patient's age at the time of the operation and relative survival. The young patients experienced a 10 year mortality rate three to four times the expected, while the older had a mortality that was elevated 25-50% from the expected. Conclusions: Patients operated on for lower limb ischaemia experience a significantly lower long-term survival than that of a demographically matched population. This relative survival is significantly influenced by the patient's age at the time of the operation.