Reconstructive vascular surgery in diabetic patients with peripheral arterial insufficiency

Peripheral arterial insufficiency in diabetic patients is for vascular surgeons a special problem as there even may be a distal diabetic angiopathy in the leg arteries. Preoperative adequate evaluation and selection of the patients is necessary before vascular reconstruction. Of 100 consecutive patients operated on with femoropopliteal bypass 33 were diabetic and 67 nondiabetic. Eleven of the diabetic patients were one year later asymptomatic, eight improved but eight were amputated.