Possibilities at present for the application of lumbar sympathectomy in chronic occlusive arterial disease of the lower limbs.

Background: Research on the limitations of the validity of lumbar sympathectomy in surgical treatment of lower limb occlusive arterial disease is still of great interest today.

Methods: Our study deals with 385 patients who underwent the surgical removal of a segment which includes the 2nd and the 3rd ganglion of the lumbar sympathetic chain in the period between the month of January 1989 and the month of December 1998.

Results: Results were good in 63.6% of patients and stationary in 10.53% of cases; in 26% of cases lumbar sympathectomy was not valid.

Conclusions: Satisfactory results were recorded, as will be shown in this text, on patients experiencing a period of rest pain, patients with ischaemic dystrophic lesions and those with very advanced intermittent claudication equally favourable results were seen in diabetic patients.