In this series 31 patients (21 males and 10 females, median age 57 +/- 13.2 years) underwent surgery between 1970 and 1984 for digestive arterial lesions. Abdominal pain was observed in 84% of these cases and weight loss in 48%, while 8 patients were asymptomatic. In 12 patients (39%) the diagnosis was suspected before arteriography, which was the key to the diagnosis in 61% of cases (19 patients). In group A (elective surgery) 42 digestive arterial revascularizations were performed in 24 patients (mean number of effected by-passes 1.5). In group B (emergency surgery) 4 embolectomies and two by-passes were performed. In group A mortality (both surgery and hospital) was 0%. In group B surgical mortality was 33%. In a mean follow-up of 4.1 years the permeability of the by-pass established in elective surgery (emergency surgery) was 100% (64%) after one year and 92.9% (64%) after three years (life table analysis). Multiple digestive arterial revascularisations should be considered for those patients presenting multiple digestive arterial lesions because of catastrophical evolution of single by-pass occlusion in these patients.