Demography of arterial surgery in New South Wales

IN New South Wales in 1978, 2545 patients received arterial reconstructions excluding procedures which were primarily intrathoracic. Seventy-one per cent of these involved the abdominal aorta and lower limb arteries, 22 per cent were associated with renal transplantation and angioaccess, while only seven per cent involved the extracranial arteries. Fifty-two surgeons regularly practised arterial surgery of whom 39 worked in the metropolitan health regions and 13 in country areas. The optimum number required for the whole state probably lies between 30 and 50. On a population basis the number of aortic and lower limb reconstruction seems appropriate to the projected need based on clinical indications, but the number of carotid reconstructions was less than 10 per cent of the projected need.