Acute limb ischaemia
Acute limb ischaemia is a medical emergency; seek urgent consultation with a vascular surgeon. It is defined as a sudden onset of severe ischaemia with associated sensory and motor loss, and intense pain.
The definitive treatment of acute limb ischaemia depends on the cause.
Common causes of acute limb ischaemia are:
- thrombosis superimposed on pre-existing atherosclerosis
- thromboembolism from the heart, aneurysm or atheroma
- thrombotic occlusion of an aneurysm
- trauma.
Protect the limb by using pressure relief and arrange immediate transport of the patient to a facility capable of providing angiography and vascular surgeryJaff, 2015.
Consider anticoagulant therapy with low molecular weight heparin or unfractionated heparin after vascular specialist consultationGarcia, 2012.