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Acute limb ischaemia occurs when there is a sudden lack of blood flow to a limb.
Acute limb ischaemia is caused by embolism or thrombosis, or rarely by dissection or trauma. Thrombosis is usually caused by peripheral vascular disease , while an embolism is usually of cardiac origin. In the United States, ALI is estimated to occur in 14 out of every 100,000 people per year. With proper surgical care, acute limb ischaemia is a highly treatable condition; however, delayed treatment can result in permanent disability, amputation, and/or death.
In contrast to acute limb ischemia, chronic limb threatening ischemia results from peripheral artery disease that develops over time. While limbs in both acute and chronic limb ischemia may be pulseless, a chronically ischemic limb is typically warm and pink due to a well-developed collateral artery network and does not need emergency intervention to avoid limb loss.
The New Latin term ischaemia as written, is a British version of the word ischemia, and stems from the Greek terms ischein 'to hold'; and haima 'blood'. In this sense, ischaemia refers to the inhibition of blood flow to/through the limb.