An objective assessment of common femoral endarterectomy and profundaplasty in patients with superficial femoral occlusion.

Common femoral endarterectomy with profundaplasty has become accepted as a useful operation in the treatment of ischemic arterial disease which is the result of superficial femoral occlusion. However, objective assessment of its long-term postoperative hemodynamic effects has not been reported. This study determines the effect of this operation on the resting pressure index, the walking distance on the treadmill, the fall in postexercise ankle pressure, and the recovery time. Measurements were made just before operation and 1 month later in 20 patients with severe claudication and superficial femoral occlusion. Sixteen patients were available for follow-up at 1 year. These patients were matched according to the resting pressure index to another group of 20 patients with superficial femoral occlusion followed up conservatively. The results indicate that common femoral endarterectomy with profundaplasty improves the distal perfusion pressure and, by inference, flow, which provides strong objective confirmation of the clinical impression that this operation is of value and help in determining its place in the management of severe lower limb ischemia.