Vascular surgery and chronic limb threatening ischaemia (CLTI)

Abstract

Vascular surgery is one of the youngest surgical specialities, having parted ways from the umbrella of general surgery in the 1990’s. Over the past 30 years, advances in various techniques and technologies, have allowed vascular surgery as well as endovascular therapy to treat an increasingly broad and more complex range of arterial and venous pathologies. The diagnosis and management of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) of the lower limbs causing chronic limb threatening ischaemia (CLTI - previously known as critical limb ischaemia) provides the biggest workload to most vascular units. CLTI is defined as peripheral arterial disease of the lower limbs in combination with rest pain, gangrene, or ulceration of over two weeks duration.