[Special issues in endovascular treatment of lower extremities arteriosclerosis obliterans]

To explore the clinical efficacy of endovascular treatment for lower extremity arteriosclerosis obliterans.

A total of 34 patients (43 limbs) with lower extremity arteriosclerosis obliterans undergoing endovascular treatment from July 2010 to July 2012 were analyzed. The cohort had Fontaine stage II b (n = 16), Fontaine stage III (n = 10) and Fontaine stage III (n = 8). Among them, the lesions were of TASC IIA (n = 4), TASC IIB (n = 8), TASC IIC (n = 9) and TASC IID (n = 13). All patients underwent percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) plus stents after computed tomographic angiography (CTA) or digital subtraction angiography (DSA). And 9 patients underwent femoral endarterectomy associated with endovascular treatment.

The success rate of this technique was 100%. One iliac artery ruptured during endovascular surgery. One patient suffered intraoperatively from arterial perforation. One patient was amputated one week later. One patient had in-stent thrombosis at Week 3 post-treatment. One patient was amputated at Week 4 after endovascular treatment. Thirty patients (38 limbs) were followed up for 13.3 months. During the follow-up, 3, 4 and 4 limbs became occluded at Month 6, 12 and 24 post-treatment respectively.

Endovascular treatment has an excellent early patency rate. Special issues should be properly handled during endovascular treatment.