Operative mortality and long-term survival of patients operated on for acute lower limb ischaemia

To investigate the operative mortality and long-term survival of patients with lower limb embolism or acute thrombosis.

A retrospective survival analysis.

Eighty patients with acute thrombosis treated by bypass and 192 patients with embolism treated by embolectomy during the years from 1985 to 1996 were studied.

The observed survival rates were calculated with the product limit method. The expected survival rates were estimated from death-rate tables. The standard mortality rate was compared over a 5-year follow-up.

The patients treated for embolism had an operative mortality of 17% and a 5-year survival rate of 17%, which was significantly lower than the expected rate of 62%. Those treated for acute thrombosis had an operative mortality of 14% and a 5-year survival rate of 44%. This was significantly higher than for the embolism group, but significantly lower than the expected rate of 74%. Both groups had a standard mortality rate of 2.2 at 5 years.

Patients with acute ischaemia have a poor short-term and long-term prognosis. The patients treated for embolism are older and they have a shorter life expectancy than those treated for acute thrombosis. The standard mortality rate of the two groups appears similar.