[Acute ischemic syndrome of the foot following sclerotherapy of varicose veins].

The inadvertent injection of the sclerosant into an artery is the most serious complication of sclerotherapy. Four cases are presented, in all of which the posterior tibial artery was involved with resulting necrosis of portions of the foot. In one case a below-knee amputation was necessary. The necrosis depends mainly on the amount of the injected sclerosant. A noteworthy improvement due to specific therapy seems rare and was seen in only one of our cases. In this instance regional fibrinolysis was performed, whereas in a second case this approach proved detrimental. It appears to be much simpler to prevent this severe complication by adequate injection technique.