The pattern of vascular surgery at Westmead Hospital from 1979 to 1985 has been reviewed. There has been an upward trend in the number of patients having repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm and carotid endarterectomy. However, the number of operations for peripheral vascular disease has not increased. This may be due to the increasing use of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), but it may also be associated with the increasing difficulty in obtaining hospital admission for patients with conditions not immediately life or limb threatening.