There have been several recent reports suggesting that the results of below-the-knee amputation for arteriosclerosis obliterans are not significantly influenced by the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus. Conrad1 in a study of amputated extremities could find no essential difference in the major arterial disease in ten extremities of diabetic patients and ten extremities of patients with arteriosclerosis obliterans and no diabetes who underwent amputation. Because its universe is the amputated extremity, however, this pathologic study may not be relevant. Harris, Schwartz and De Weese2 report that no correlation could be found between the presence of diabetes and the percentage of healing at the midcalf level in patients with amputation for arteriosclerosis obliterans. Lempke et al3 state that the presence or absence of diabetes mellitus had no statistically significant effect on the failure rate at any or all of their amputation sites. This judgment is contrary to