Purpose of review: In-stent restenosis (ISR) is a complex disease process that became apparent shortly after the introduction of stents into clinical practice. This review seeks to define in-stent restenosis (ISR) as well as to summarize the major treatment options that have been developed and studied over the past two decades.
Recent findings: Recent developments in drug-coated balloons and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds have added new potential treatments for ISR. Two recent network meta-analyses performed a head-to-head comparison of all the various treatment modalities in order to identify the best approach to management of ISR. Current data suggests that repeat stenting with second-generation drug-eluting stents is most likely to lead to the best angiographic and clinical outcomes. In situations where repeat stenting is not preferable, drug-coated balloon therapy seems to be a reasonably effective alternative.
Keywords: Balloon angioplasty; Bare metal stent; Drug-eluting stent; In-stent restenosis; Neo atherosclerosis; Rotational atherectomy.