[Reconstruction surgery of the tibial artery in extremities at risk of amputation].

The crural arteries are involved in the occlusive process in almost all patients with limb threatening ischemia. Due to significant improvements over the last decade in the material used, crural surgical revascularization has become widespread despite the fact that all common surgical techniques have been well known since the beginning of the century. The feasibility of such reconstructions depends to a large extent on the use of microsurgical techniques and the availability of recent therapeutic concepts more appropriate for severely ill patients and especially those with multifocal atherosclerosis. In patients facing the danger of mutilating amputation, limb salvage should always be attempted by a crural revascularization procedure whenever the occlusion morphology seems suitable.