[Should phlebitis of the limbs be treated surgically (author's transl)]

Controversy persists between partisans of medical treatment and partisans of wide surgical indications. In iliocaval phlebitis, the authors defend surgery insofar as the operation is restorative, whilst remaining "reasoned" in terms of the lesions and the numerous factors involved. Experience of 90 cases of phlebitis treated over the past two years has shown that restoration may be obtained and maintained in more than half the number of cases and that prophylactic partial venous occlusion proved necessary in only 30% of cases. Absence of any deaths confirmed the value of this approach.