[Reconstructive surgery of deep veins of the lower extremities: the Palma operation revisited].

It has been grossly estimated that one fifth of the patients with post thrombotic chronic venous diseases suffer from obstructive or hypertensive symptoms, due to a failure of the physiologic repermeabilization mechanisms. In clinical practice, only a small group of these patients, with disabling symptoms, fill the essential requirements for a deep vein reconstructive surgery. The authors report the clinical case of a 27 years old male, with a chronic segmentar thrombotic occlusion of the right external iliac and common femoral veins, causing disabling symptoms to his normal professional activity. The patient underwent a surgical reconstructive surgery, consisting in the classic Palma operation followed by an excellent anatomic and functional result. The main features of this procedure, its indications and results are discussed, based on the most recent data published in the literature.