Aim: The aim of this study was to present our experience with video-assisted lumbar sympathectomy for non-reconstructive arterial occlusive disease in a series of 23 consecutive patients whose predominant symptoms were unilateral rest pain, limited skin ulcerations or gangrene of the toes.
Methods: All the procedures were performed with retroperitoneal approach, dorsal position of the patient and simple digital dissection of the retroperitoneal space.
Results: The operations were successfully performed in all patients except for 2, who immediately underwent open conversion. A urinoma caused by ureteral lesion was the only severe complication in this series. The mean operative time of the procedure was 55 min and the hospital stay was 2 or 3 days. No parenteral analgesics were administered postoperatively. At 1 month from operation, 20 patients out of 23 had significant relief of rest pain and improvement of ischemic lesions. After a median follow-up of 36 months, 2 patients had died, 4 underwent some type of distal amputation, 1 had recurrent rest pain and the other 16 reported persistent improvement of pain or dystrophic changes.
Conclusions: Retro-peritoneoscopic technique appears the modern and less invasive version of the lumbar surgical sympathectomy.