Surgical procedures in acute embolic limb ischemia

Acute limb ischemia is an emergency which regularly requires operative treatment in departments of general surgery. In about 70 % of cases there is an embolic reason for acute ischemia. In the majority of cases urgent operative desobliteration is required to guarantee limb salvage. The introduction of balloon catheters reduced the surgical trauma significantly in cases of long secondary thromboses More complex procedures are required in patients with preexisting chronic arterial occlusive disease, The mortality of these emergency operations is still 10-20 % with a limb salvage rate of 80-90 %.