Gender differences in vascular interventions for lower limb ischaemia

Area of Science:

• Vascular Surgery
• Epidemiology
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Lower limb ischaemia (LLI) management has evolved over recent decades.
• Understanding trends in surgical interventions is crucial for resource allocation and patient care.
• Gender disparities in healthcare access and outcomes warrant investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine temporal changes in the surgical treatment of lower limb ischaemia.
• To specifically investigate how intervention patterns differ with regard to patient gender.
• To analyze trends in procedure types, patient demographics, and age over time.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 12,295 interventions for lower limb ischaemia performed between 1970 and 1994 in Stockholm.
• Data sourced from the National Board of Health and Welfare, including procedure type, patient age, and gender.
• Calculation of intervention rates per million inhabitants and analysis of demographic proportions.

Main Results:

• Overall interventions for LLI surged from 18 to 786 per million inhabitants between 1970 and 1994.
• The proportion of women undergoing treatment increased from 34% to 48%.
• Infrainguinal reconstructions saw the most substantial rise, with female patient proportion increasing from 33% to 43%; mean patient age increased from 63 to 71 years.

Conclusions:

• There was a significant increase in the overall number of lower limb ischaemia interventions.
• A notable rise in the proportion of female patients treated for LLI was observed.
• The mean age of patients undergoing intervention also increased substantially during the study period.