People with critical limb ischaemia face enormous cardiovascular risk, with a 50% mortality rate within the first year
of diagnosis. These tend to be older patients with significant
comorbidity, which also need to be optimised to reduce this
risk. Such patients require prompt referral to specialist services for revascularisation assessment. People with critical
limb ischaemia should be encouraged to manage their cardiovascular disease via secondary prevention, as previously
discussed. Options for revascularisation include angioplasty
or bypass surgery, similarly to that of intermittent claudication. Amputation may need to be considered if revascularisation is not possible or not successful. All people with critical
limb ischaemia need to be assessed by a vascular multidisciplinary team, who should be heavily involved in all treatment
decision-making.