Transcutaneous PO2 response to transient arterial occlusion in peripheral occlusive disease

Transcutaneous oxygen tension response to transient arterial occlusion (tcPO2T/2) was examined at the medial mid-calf and dorsum of the foot in 20 patients with thromboangiitis obliterans or arteriosclerosis obliterans, and in normal subjects in order to accurately assess the rate of skin oxygenation. Though the mean value of transcutaneous oxygen tension (tcPO2) correlated with the mean value of tcPO2T/2 before and after arterial reconstruction, a discrepancy between the tcPO2 and tcPO2T/2 values was demonstrated in some cases. The tcPO2T/2 values manifested the severity of the peripheral skin oxygenation more clearly than tcPO2 values because changes in the tcPO2T/2 value paralleled improvement in symptoms after arterial reconstruction. It was concluded that the tcPO2T/2 value was useful in grading the severity of disease, in detecting the site of the arterial occlusion and in evaluating changes in symptoms before and after arterial reconstruction.