Commentary

Abstract

There is no doubt that Professor Bell’s very practical strategy for the surgical treatment of patients with critical limb ischaemia is both comprehensive and practical. He presents a very balanced surgical approach which should receive wide acceptance. Perhaps, however, it does not fully take into account the rapid recent developments in the non-surgical therapy of these patients which could be expanded into a more integrated combined medical and surgical approach. Despite the difficulty of evaluating the newer medical therapies, it is time now to begin to integrate the two approaches and to avoid perpetuating an increasingly artifical separation.