Endovascular therapy for peripheral arterial disease

Abstract

In addition to conservative therapy with intensive walking training, endovascular revascularisation and open vascular surgical revascularisation are of high importance in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease. Over the past decades, endovascular therapy has developed considerably and is now the treatment of choice for most vascular segments. The use of different devices has been shown to be beneficial for different vessel segments. Primary stent angioplasty has been shown to be superior to balloon angioplasty with secondary stent implantation for the treatment of iliac lesions. Femoropopliteal, the use of paclitaxel-eluting balloon angioplasty is recommended. A mortality signal shown in a meta-analysis was not confirmed. With directional atherectomy and intravascular lithotripsy, different options for plaque modification are available. The cytostatic drug sirolimus as another antirestenotic substance still has to be investigated in large, randomised trials. A final assessment of the effectiveness and safety is not yet possible. Infrapopliteal balloon angioplasty remains the standard treatment. After interventional therapy, regular follow-up is recommended.