A Study of Our Acute Arterial Obstruction

In a past 25-year period, we have experienced 111 cases of acute arterial obstruction. The over-all mortality rate was 12% and limb salvage rate, 89%. Fifteen cases of iatrogenic arterial injury included pediatric cases below 10 years old, which were all caused by catheterization. Careful attentions are necessary for catheter examination in children. Of 10 traumatic arterial injuries seven were located in the left sided arteries (70%). In 86 cases caused by other thrombus and occlusion excluding iatrogenic and traumatic causes, cardiac diseases accounted for 53.5% of their underlying diseases, and the male-to-female ratio was 3.3-to-1. We experienced a case of left common iliac arterial obstruction which was successfully treated 86 days after manifestation, but it is clear that shorten the interval between the first manifestation and operation, better the mortality and morbidity. Postoperative management with anticoagulants is an important prognostic factor. For the prophylaxis of recurrence, the causative disease should be treated as early as possible, if it can be handled.