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Background: Patients with arteriosclerotic peripheral vascular disease and lower limb ischemia have painful ulceration or incipient gangrene of the lower limb with intractable rest pain. The arteriosclerotic changes may preclude any surgery other than amputation. Methods:We examined whether chemical sympathectomy could relieve pain, arrest gangrene and postpone amputation, even in diabetic patients.Results: Phenol lumbar sympathectomy was performed on 373 patients, of whom 226 (60.6%) were diabetic. Over 24-120 months of follow-up, 219 patients (58.7%) experienced total relief from pain and healing of gangrenous ulcers, although the treatment was unsuccessful in 154 patients. A favorable result was marked in diabetic patients who had rest pain and in non-diabetic patients who had digital gangrene or digital ulcers. Age and sex did not affect the results but heavy smoking did. Conclusion:Phenol sympathectomy should be considered as an alternative to surgical sympathectomy. Furthermore, the technique may be a precursor to and even an alternative to amputation in patients who have diabetes and advanced arteriosclerosis of the lower limb. journal of Cardiovascular Risk 1995, 2:467-469

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Carotid endarterectomy in 39 elderly patients was carried out under local anesthesia and neuroleptic analgesia. There were no deaths within 30 days. Two patients required an intraoperative shunt because of signs of ischemic changes (aphasia, motor changes) during two-minute test cross-clamping. In two patients, transient vocal cord paresis was observed, and seven patients (18%) experienced immediate postoperative hypertension. Our results support the contention that in awake elderly patients the need for an intraoperative shunt can be accurately assessed by simple neurological monitoring. Carotid surgery under local anesthesia and neuroleptic analgesia appears to be a safe procedure, and is especially recommended for elderly patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus or ischemic heart disease.

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