The authors report a case with a rare form of peripheral ischaemia. A 25-year-old man with Crohn's disease suffers from sudden ischaemia of his right leg. There is no evidence of entrapment of the popliteal artery, of arterial embolism or Buerger's disease. Thrombocytosis in combination with hypercoagulability as described previously in patients with Crohn's disease seems to be the most probable cause. - In this case percutaneous transluminal thrombectomy and thrombolysis were more successful than surgical thrombectomy using balloon catheters.