Restenosis is one of the major limitations of the percutaneous treatment of peripheral artery disease, leading to the need for repeat interventions, limb loss and increased cost of therapy. The current standard of percutaneous treatment of stenotic lesions in the femoropopliteal arterial segment includes balloon angioplasty and bare-metal stenting. Recently, research in the field adapting the coronary arterial bed treatment model led to the inclusion of antimitotic drugs in the form of drug-eluting stents to combat neointimal proliferation and reduce the burden of restenosis. Randomized trial and registry data emerged indicating improved long-term outcomes with drug-eluting stents in peripheral arteries, lending the way to more widespread adaptation of this modality in the management of patients with peripheral artery disease.
Keywords: angioplasty; drug-eluting stent; peripheral artery disease.