[Heat exchange and skin thermometry before and after lumbar sympathectomy]

The authors studied the flow of heat and skin temperature of the legs and feet in 73 patients with atherosclerosis obliterans before and after lumbar sympathectomy. A regularity was revealed according to which numerical determination of heat emission in combination with thermometry in characteristic points of the leg and foot was a good test in determining the stage of the disease and a prognostic index of the efficacy of lumbar sympathectomy and rehabilitation of the patient in the immediate and late-term postoperative period.