Surgical and endovascular venous arterialization: ready to take the "desert" by storm?

Patients with critical limb ischemia have a poor life expectancy, and aggressive revascularization is accepted to maintain their independence in the end stage of life. Bypass surgery and, more recently, endovascular interventions with angioplasty and stenting have become the treatment of choice to prevent amputation and resolve rest pain. Up to 20% of patients with critical limb ischemia are not suitable candidates for a vascular intervention because of extensive occlusions of the outflow in the crural and pedal vessels. This "desert foot" can be treated with a venous arterialization. In this review, we discuss the mechanism, the techniques, outcome, and complications of venous arterialization.