[Experience with the therapy of acute finger ischemia by high-dose intra-arterial infusion of PGE1 through a surgically introduced catheter].

We present five patients with serious ischemia of the fingers caused by intra-arterial injection injury, trauma, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic myeloid leukemia with thrombocytosis and thoracic-outlet syndrome. The treatment consisted of thrombectomy and intra-arterial lysis if possible and intra-arterial infusion of 80 microg PGE1/24 h in combination with 25,000 U of heparin/24 h for 6-10 days. PGE1 and heparin were administered through a 3-F catheter introduced surgically into a forearm artery. In three cases a complete remission was possible, in the other two cases the therapy led to significant improvement. No side effects or complications were noticed.