[Intravenous sympatholysis in arterial occlusive diseases and acrosyndromes]

Regional intravenous injection of ismelin is a very common pain treatment in sympathetic reflex dystrophies. In view of the mode of action of ismelin, it would be interesting to use that technique in the symptomatic treatment of chronic obstructive arteriopathies and of Raynaud's phenomenon. Surprisingly, few papers deal with that subject, probably because of fear of aggravating ischemia. However, short-term results are satisfactory in terms of pain relief. Long-term follow-up is unfortunately never mentioned.