Current status of bare and drug-eluting stents in infrainguinal peripheral vascular disease

Currently, the use of endovascular therapies including stent application is increasingly becoming the treatment of choice for superficial femoral and below-the-knee lesions. Primary stenting of even longer lesions is supported by favorable results of mid- to long-term evaluations. However, issues such as the long-term patency of these devices, optimal design of the stents used, and the role of coating with drugs for infrainguinal disease are under investigation. With more widespread use, problems such as fractures become evident and further developments will have to address these issues. Currently, a number of studies are being conducted, which will help to clarify the role of patient and lesion selection, choice of device, design of the stent and the question of whether or not to use drug-eluting stents for this application. Furthermore, endovascular therapy of below-the-knee lesions is becoming an increasingly interesting area for interventional procedures.