This multidisciplinary guideline provides an overview of the current evidence on the benefits obtained by endoarterectomy and stenting for the surgical treatment of patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid stenosis. A hundred forty-six authors, 37 Italian scientific societies and two Italian patients' associations participated in drafting the Stroke Prevention and Educational Awareness Diffusion (SPREAD) document, which has become the national guideline for the prevention and treatment of stroke in Italy. For the surgical therapy section of this document, the main trials on carotid endoarterectomy and stenting were critically reviewed following The Scottish Intercollegiate Guideline Network Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine methodology in order to formulate recommendations and syntheses for these procedures. The final document was peer reviewed and approved by all the participants. Recommendations and syntheses are presented for the referral of patients to either carotid endoarterectomy or stenting on the basis of whether carotid stenosis is symptomatic or asymptomatic, on the presence of various risk factors such as degree of arterial narrowing, and on concomitant pathology (cardiopathy and acute stroke).