General practitioner referral of patients with symptoms of peripheral vascular disease

A questionnaire survey has been carried out to assess the circumstances under which general practitioners refer patients with peripheral vascular disease to a district general hospital. A single-page questionnaire was sent to 100 general practitioners seeking information about their referral of patients with claudication, ischaemic rest pain or abdominal aortic aneurysms. Of the 77% who responded, over half would not refer a 70-year-old with claudication at half a mile or an 80-year-old with claudication at 100 m, and 44% would not refer an 80-year-old with a palpable abdominal aortic aneurysm. The results suggest that many elderly patients with symptomatic claudication or asymptomatic aneurysms are not currently referred. Changing referral patterns due to a heightened awareness of minimally invasive methods of treatment or the benefits of aneurysm surgery have the potential for profound effects upon vascular surgical work-load.