Objective The incidence of chronic lower limb ischemia caused by arteriosclerotic obliteration of lower extremities is increasing recent years and there is a high risk of amputation and mortality.This study was to find out the changes in a single center for 16 years.Methods A retrospective analysis of the data of patients in single-center vascular surgery in the past 16 years was carried out.The patients with chronic lower limb ischemia caused by lower limb arteriosclerosis obliterans were screened out,and the data of operation information,amputation,length of stay and hospitalization expenses during hospitalization were collected.Results A total of 4 602 patients were included,of whom 57.39％ were diabetic.It was found that the number of patients admitted,the number of endovascular treatment,the average cost of hospitalization increased year by year,and the average length of hospitalization decreased year by year.The amputation rate decreased from 8.12％ (from 2002 to 2007) to 0.92％ (from 2008 to 2017) (P ＜ 0.01).The average days of hospitalization decreased from 28.20 days (from 2002 to 2007) to 11.65 days (from 2008 to 2017) (P ＜ 0.01).The average hospitalization cost rose from 54 466.94 yuan (from 2002 to 2007) to 73 685.22 yuan (from 2008-2017) (P ＜ 0.01).There was no significant difference in amputation rate,hospitalization days and hospitalization costs between diabetic group and non-diabetic group.In diabetic subgroup,amputation rate decreased from 8.83％ (between 2002 and 2007) to 1.05％ (between 2008 and 2017) (P ＜ 0.01).The average hospitalization days decreased from 30.12 days (between 2002 and 2007) to 12.60 days (between 2008 and 2017) (P ＜ 0.01).The average cost of hospitalization rose from 58 530.94 yuan (between 2002 and 2007) to 74 433.75 yuan (between 2008 and 2017) (P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions From 2002 to 2017,the number of patients with chronic lower limb ischemia increased gradually,and so as the number of endovascular treatment.While the amputation rate and average hospitalization time decreased,and the average hospitalization cost increased.The same trend was observed in the diabetic subgroup.The significant decrease in amputation rate may be related to the development of endovascular therapy and angiogenesis therapy.