Background: Whether they are defined as minor or major, lower limb amputations constitute a severe health problem, causing high rates of morbidity and mortality and considerable social impact. Different patient clinical characteristics appear to be related to different types of amputations. Objectives: To analyze risk factors present in patients who underwent lower limb amputations at a tertiary hospital. Methods: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional study of 109 patients who underwent lower limb amputations over a period of 31 months, analyzing gender, age, 15 clinical data and five laboratory parameters present at the time of admission. Data were treated with descriptive statistics and compared using Student' s t test for unpaired samples (for numerical variables), the Mann-Whitney test, or Fisher' s exact tests (for categorical variables). Results: There were 59 major and 50 minor amputations out of a total of 109 performed. The majority of patients were male (65%) and mean age was 65 years (range 39 to 93). Risk factors that were statistically (p < 0.05) more related to major amputations were advanced age, stroke, ischemia, sepsis, and low hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. Diabetes mellitus, neuropathy, and palpable distal pulses were factors more strongly associated with minor amputations. Conclusions: Lower limb amputations at different levels are related to different risk factors. Ischemia of greater severity and morbidity was associated with major amputations, while neuropathy and preserved perfusion were more often related to minor amputations.

Background: Ultrasound-guided polidocanol foam sclerotherapy is used to treat patients with venous ulcers. It is a minimally invasive procedure and is simple to perform, but it has high relapse rates. Objectives: To report short to medium term results in patients with venous ulcers treated using ultrasound-guided polidocanol foam sclerotherapy. Methods: A sample of 19 patients who had been treated with ultrasound-guided polidocanol foam sclerotherapy between January 2013 and December 2014 were followed-up. Time taken for ulcers to heal, improvement of clinical symptoms, recanalization of treated veins, and relapse of symptoms and of venous ulcers were analyzed. Results: Fifteen of the patients analyzed were female (78.9%) and four were male (21.1%). Overall mean age was 53 years. Follow-up times ranged from 448 days to 1,276 days (mean of 791 days). The mean duration of active ulcers was 53 months. At postoperative follow-up assessments, total recanalization was observed in 15.7%, partial recanalization in 21%, and occlusion in 47.3% of the veins that had been treated. There was only one case of ulcer relapse. Analysis of mean Venous Clinical Severity Scores (VCSS) revealed a significant difference from before to after the procedure, with a variation of 11.2 (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Ultrasound-guided foam sclerotherapy has high rates of therapeutic success and achieves high rates of venous ulcer healing.

IntroductionPerforator veins (PVs) play an important role in the development of chronic venous insufficiency and ulceration. Procedures to eliminate incompetence and reflux in PV may include open surgery, subfascial endoscopic surgery, intravenous ablation techniques and sclerotherapy. With the aim of filling the evidence gap, this is a protocol for a systematic review that will assess the effects of any form of intervention for the treatment of pathologic PVs of the lower limbs in patients with chronic venous disease.Methods and analysisSystematic searches will be carried out in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane CENTRAL, IBECS and LILACS databases at a minimum without date or language restrictions for relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs (trials in which the method of allocation is not truly random). In addition, a search will also be carried out in the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, in the clinical trial registries of ClinicalTrials.gov and in the grey literature source OpenGrey.eu. The RCT and quasi-RCT comparison techniques isolated or in combination for treating PVs will be considered. Three review authors will independently perform data extraction and quality assessments of data from included studies, and any disagreements will be resolved by discussion. The primary outcomes will be wound healing and pain. Secondary outcomes will include oedema, adverse events, recurrence or recanalisation, quality of life and economic aspects. The Cochrane handbook will be used for guidance. If the results are not appropriate for a meta-analysis in RevManV.5 software (eg, if the data have considerable heterogeneity and are drawn from different comparisons), a descriptive analysis will be performed.Ethics and disseminationEthics committee approval is not necessary. We intend to update the public registry used in this review, report any important protocol amendments and publish the results in a widely accessible journal.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42018092974

The anatomy of the venous system of the lower limbs is among the most complex in the human body. In view of this, it is extremely important to know how to identify variations that can affect it, such as congenital malformations, for example. In cases of a rare vascular malformation such as agenesis of deep veins, clinical status may manifest with chronic venous insufficiency, which can progress with edema, hyperpigmentation, and lower limb ulcers. This is very often therefore an incapacitating disease that is difficult to treat. This article describes a case of agenesis of a segment of femoropopliteal vein in the right lower limb of a 36-year-old patient who had edema and large caliber varicose veins in the affected limb.Keywords: femoral vein; popliteal vein; congenital abnormalities; anatomy; anatomic variant. ResumoA anatomia do sistema venoso dos membros inferiores é uma das mais complexas no corpo humano. Devido a essa condição, é de extrema importância saber identificar variações que possam acometê-la, como as malformações congênitas. Em casos de agenesia de veias

Resumo Contexto Os cateteres venosos centrais para hemodiálise (CVCH) de curta permanência (CCP) e cateteres tunelizáveis de longa permanência (CTLP) são fundamentais para a terapia hemodialítica. Entretanto, há escassa casuística nacional acerca da incidência de complicações desses dois tipos de cateteres. Objetivos Analisar as complicações e tempo de duração de CVCHs em centro de hemodiálise de hospital de ensino. Métodos Foi feito um estudo unicêntrico, longitudinal e retrospectivo de 115 pacientes consecutivos submetidos a implante de cateteres para hemodiálise (67 CCP e 48 CTLP) em um período de 2 anos, com análise de sobrevida geral, perviedade, perda do acesso e incidência de complicações. Resultados Sessenta por cento eram do sexo masculino e a média de idade foi de 62 anos. O principal sítio de punção foi a veia jugular interna direita. Hipertensão arterial sistêmica estava presente em 95% dos casos. A mediana de permanência do cateter foi de 50 dias (CCP) versus 112 dias (CTLP; p < 0,0001). Não houve diferença na sobrevida global. Infecção relacionada ao cateter apresentou maior incidência nos CCP, sendo Staphylococcus sp. o microrganismo mais encontrado. A taxa de infecção por 1.000 dias foi maior nos CCP em relação aos CTLP (16,7 eventos/1.000 dias versus 7,0 eventos/1.000 dias, respectivamente). Baixa renda foi o único fator relacionado a maior incidência de infecção. Conclusões O tempo de permanência dos CTLP foi significativamente maior que os CCP, porém ainda assim abaixo dos valores relatados na literatura e sem impacto na sobrevida global. Baixa renda foi um fator associado a infecção de cateter.