[Surgical treatment of acute thrombosis of the leg and pelvic veins].

Indications for thrombectomy in acute thrombosis of the deep veins of the pelvis and lower extremities are: 1. Phlegmasia coerulea dolens with imminent danger of venous gangrene. 2. All cases: a) with contraindications for a therapy with fibrinolysis, b) after therapy-failures with thrombolytic therapy, c) thrombosis of more than 3 days duration. 3. In cases associated with tumours or trauma. If a thrombectomy can only be partially achieved, or in cases with an old thrombosis, a temporary arteriovenous fistula is performed. In cases with phlegmasia alba and the inexistence of danger for an extremity treatment with fibrinolysis, this is preferable in the first three days after onset, if general conditions permit this treatment. Results of venous thrombectomies are particularly astonishingly good in phlegmasia coerulea and it is therefore mandatory to transfer all fresh cases of thrombosis of the deep veins of the peelvis and lower extremities to an angiologic center in order to differentiate cases for fibrinolytic therapy, from those which require surgical intervention.