Specialisation within Vascular Surgery

Despite its short existence, vascular surgery has already grown out of the scope of a mono-specialty. Meanwhile emerging interests of other competing specialties push into the field of vascular care. Continuous technological innovation drives the need for sub-specialisation to provide disease-centred expertise; however, treatment success equally depends on balanced patient-centred care. Vascular surgeons are amidst this controversy and are currently challenged by their own demand to offer all aspects of vascular care - as the vascular specialist. This article discusses the natural driving forces towards sub-specialisation and appraises advantages and limitations with respect to the future of integrated vascular care. (C) 2009 European Society for Vascular Surgery. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.