Journal «Angiology and Vascular Surgery» • 

2001 • VOLUME 7 • №1

COMPARISON OF QUALITY OF LIFE IN ELDERLY AND SENILE PATIENTS WITH CRITICAL LOWER LIMB ISCHEMIA AFTER VASCULAR RECONSTRUCTIONS AND AMPUTATIONS

V.V. Savin
Department of Vascular Surgery, Hospital of War Veterans №2,
Moscow, Russia

Between 1936 and 1939, 88 vascular reconstructive operations were performed for critical lower limb ischemia in patients over the age of 70 years at the Department of Vascular Surgery, Hospital of War Veterans №2. It has been revealed that in this group patients, the postoperative rehabilitation period runs a longer and graver course. As a rule, the postoperative period in elderly and senile patients is marked by exacerbation of chronic cardiovascular and respiratory pathology. An important role in the evaluation of the treatment results in this patient group is played by social, mental and emotional problems associated with the given disease. All this presents an idea of quality of life and has a noticeable effect on the patients' perception, of the results of surgical treatment. Today there are different methods for evaluation of the patients' quality of life: the Euro-QoL, the Nottingham Health Profit (NHP), SF-36 and SF-12. The author suggests his own approach to the assessment of quality of life of gerontologioal patients after vascular reconstructive operations. Gerontological patients were compared for quality of life after they underwent vascular reconstructions and primary amputations. It has been revealed that the improvement of quality of life in patients after primary amputations is of temporary character and stems from a decrease of the painful syndrome and phenomena of purulent intoxication. In patients after vascular reconstructions, the improvement of quality of life runs a long course and is directly pendent on the type of vascular reconstruction, duration of the postoperative period and severity of coexistent pathology.

KEY WORDS: limb amputation, critical lower limb ischemia, vascular reconstructions, quality of life.

P. 54

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