Welcome to the February 2025 edition of the JVSGBI.

The first editorial provides a response from (past) presidents of the VSGBI and Rouleaux Club regarding findings from a survey, also in this edition, of UK vascular surgeons regarding the role of physicians’ associates in vascular surgery. This survey highlights concerns regarding scope of practice, governance and impact on trainees. These concerns persist in those vascular surgeons who have experience of working with physicians’ associates. Hopefully the upcoming Leng report will recommend solutions to this complex and difficult problem.

Our second editorial provides guidance on the establishment of “hot clinics” to address the increasing service provision challenges associated with chronic limb threatening ischaemia.

The second original article provides an 8 year audit of ruptured AAA management in a single centre, highlighting the importance of capturing information on those patients who were managed conservatively / with palliative care.

The third original article, an international survey, highlights the extreme variability in VTE prophylaxis following superficial endovenous ablation therapy, most likely due to the paucity of evidence based guidelines and emphasising the importance of the ongoing THRIVE trial.

This edition also contains the protocol for a systematic review of treatment strategies for mixed arteriovenous leg ulcers. This systematic review once completed will hopefully provide valuable information regarding the optimal management of these difficult cases. Additionally there is a review of the management of carotid webs, a rare but important carotid pathology.

Finally this issue contains two case reports, the second from New Zealand, perhaps signifying the reach our relatively new journal has achieved.
Once again I would like to take this opportunity to thank our reviewers for their time and effort in reviewing articles, authors for submitting to our journal and admin / editorial team for their hard work in processing submitted articles and formatting articles for publication.