Med Klin
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Acute lower limb ischemia is not infrequently associated with limb loss 10-30%) or death of the affected patient (15-30%). Thus, acute lower limb ischemia is an emergency. There are two categories of acute arterial occlusion: embolism (70-80%) and thrombosis (20-30%). ⋯ Patients with severe ischemia require immediate surgical intervention. In patients with contraindications to surgical management or incomplete ischemia, interventional revascularization is the therapy of primary choice. Successful outcome is dependent on careful clinical assessment and a prompt multidisciplinary approach to revascularization.
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In discussions on the quality of cross-sectorial health-care services high importance is attributed to patient education and patient counseling, with guideline-based patient information being considered a crucial tool. Guideline-based patient information is supposed to serve patients as a decision-making basis and, in addition, to also support the implementation of the guidelines themselves. ⋯ The authors will also address the issue which contents should be included in patient guidelines in order to meet these requirements and which measures are required to review their quality. The present paper continues the series of articles on the Program for German National Disease Management Guidelines.