The immediate effect of lumbar sympathectomy on arterial blood flow measured by electromagnetic flowmetry.

The immediate effect of lumbar sympathectomy on arterial blood flow was studied in 51 patients with peripheral arterial disease by means of electromagnetic flowmetry. Concomitant arterial reconstruction was performed in 37 cases. The measurement was made on the reconstructed segment or on the bypass graft, and on the femoral artery when sympathectomy alone was performed. The flow increase varied considerably from case to case and was rather unpredictable. There was no significant correlation between the effect of sympathectomy and peripheral arterial disease or the condition of the outflow tract. Thus, on the basis of these measurements, it is difficult to determine the significance of lumbar sympathectomy as a method of increasing blood flow.