Management of critical limb ischemia: proposal for a multidisciplinary operating network in Tuscany

Introduction: Critical limb ischemia (CLI) is a clinical entity that is not well known to patients or the mass media, and it often receives inadequate attention by medical specialists as well. In most cases, patients with CLI already have advanced disease when they are first seen by physicians, and they frequently arrive on internal medicine wards without having received appropriate treatment. The numerous comorbidities that characterize these cases really require multidisciplinary management.
Materials and methods: We sent multiple-choice questionnaires to 26 internal medicine units in hospitals located in the Tuscany region of Italy to learn more about the true incidence and impact of CLI.
Results: As expected, in most wards, there is no specific, structured clinical protocols for effective management of CLI patients.
Discussion: We analyze the current situation and propose a multidisciplinary network for structured, integrated management of CLI. The network would operate throughout the region and be composed of internist-angiologists and vascular surgeons with greater awareness of CLI and experience in its management. This initiative, if effectively implemented, will help increase awareness of this condition and the fact that CLI patients are suffering from what is unacceptably an €˜â€˜orphan'' illness.