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

Objectives: To investigate the operative mortality and long-term survival of patients with lower limb embolism or acute thrombosis. Design: A retrospective survival analysis. Materials: 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. Methods: The observed survival rates were calculated with the product limit method. The expected survival rates were estimated from death-rate tables. The standard mortality rare was compared over a 5-year follow-up. Results: 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. Conclusion: 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.