J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 61(4): 473-487, 1960

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BALNEOTHERAPY OF PERIPHERAL VASCULAR DISEASES

Stastical observation were made on 84 patients with peripheral vascular diseases (61 cases with thrombo-angiitis obliterans "Buerger's disease", 11 cases of Raynaud's disease or syndrome, 5 cases having phlebitis or arterial thrombosis, and 6 cases caused by traumatic injury). These patients were treated in our surgical department between May 1952 and December 1958. From their past history, it was found that the majority of the patients with Buerger's disease had been already treated by various methods (especially, sympathetic ganglionectomy, Imidalin and Kallikrein injections). However, most of the patients entered to our hospital had ischemic rest pain, coldness, color changes, intermittent claudication and absent pulsation of the dorsalis pedis artery and a half of them possessed ulcer. The following tests were undertaken : Palpation of peripheral arterial pulsation, skin temperature test, Buerger test, circulation time test and pulse wave recording by photoelectric plethysmography, and obtained the evidence of insufficient peripheral circulation. According to their symptoms, we have given the patients proper surgical, physical and medical treatment with several kinds of hot spring bathing (using electric irritation, carbonic acid gas and simple douche). At the time of leave from the hospital, the majority of the patients who had pain, coldness, paresthesia, lividness, edema, ulcer and intermittent claudication in the group of Buerger's disease became better or recovered, and their pain, coldness, paresthesia and color changes in the groups of Raynaud's disease and peripheral circulatory insufficiency by trauma decreased remarkably. From the use of a few other methods, good results were obtained on balnectherapy which is effective for pain, coldness, paresthesia, ulcer and difficulty to walk. It is considered that balneotherapy does not aid in the recovery of the obliterative vessels, but promote the development of collateral circulation, because we obtained dissatisfactory results on the palpation test and plethysmography. There was only a little increase of non-changed and worse cases, comparing with other groups, after the hospitalization we believe that balneotherapy is a good although not conclusive method.
We are convinced that this therapy is necessary and effective for sympathectomy and of great assistance in this operation, because we found frequently invalid and relapsing cases after sympathectomy in many reports.
(Author's abstract)

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