Delayed arterial embolectomy.

Eight instances of delayed or late embolectomy are presented with a review of 241 additional patients from the literature. The time interval from clinical onset to embolectomy ranged from three days to eight weeks in our series and two days to seven weeks in the additional 12 series surveyed. One amputation and seven successful restorations of arterial pulses occurred in our series. One hundred and seventy-two viable extremities, 48 amputations and 30 deaths were reviewed among the additional series. Intraoperative arteriography and a direct operative approach to the distal arterial tree would improve the results for those patients who require a delayed embolectomy.