[Peripheral arterial obstruction and acute lower limb ischemia]

In this article, current evidence-based treatment recommendations for acute and chronic lower limb ischemia will be presented considering the varied possibilities of endovascular techniques and open surgical vascular strategies. Beside presentation of the different therapeutic possibilities, advantages of the combination of both techniques will be described. Despite the BASIL trial, there are no prospective randomised controlled trials comparing endovascular and open surgical interventions. Different therapeutic rules along the different vascular segments will be discussed for both acute and chronic peripheral arterial disease. Generally it can be stated that aortoiliac revascularization for chronic obstructions is increasingly being carried out by endovascular means or hybrid procedures using a minimally invasive femoral approach, whereas acute occlusions in this vascular segment are still treated with open surgical techniques (Fogarty balloon thrombectomy). In the infrainguinal region, endovascular therapeutic strategies are gaining favor. However, multilevel occlusions and long-segment obstructions in the femoral and popliteal segment are still treated by bypass procedures. Acute ischemia in the infrainguinal segment is increasingly treated with endovascular methods (local thrombolysis and percutaneous thrombectomy).