The long term results of profundaplasty in femoropopliteal arterial occlusion.

The long term results of profundaplasty in the treatment of femoropopliteal arterial occlusion have been reviewed. Fifty patients have been studied with a mean follow-up period of 4 years (range 6 months to 8 years). Intermittent claudication was abolished or substantially improved in 5 of the 25 cases (20 percent); rest pain was relieved in 10 of the 25 cases (40 per cent), the remainder requiring a major amputation. Lumbar sympathectomy produced little additional benefit in either group. The mortality rate in the rest pain group was high and only 5 patients survived for more than 3 years with both legs intact. The state of the distal 'run-off' and the degree of preoperative profunda stenosis appeared to have little influence on the clinical outcome. After operation pedal pulses were restored in 16 per cent of those presenting with claudication. Profundaplasty was without significant effect on the ankle systolic pressure index both in patients with claudication and those with rest pain.