Endovascular Treatment of Infrainguinal Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD): Update on Stent Technology

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a progressive vascular disease affecting millions of individuals and is a considerable cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. While balloon angioplasty remains the cornerstone option for endovascular management of arterial stenosis, advances in percutaneous endovascular stent technology have broadened the toolbox of therapeutic options for PAD and have significantly improved function and quality of life. Indeed, covered stents, bioabsorbable stents and drug eluting stents are several of the innovations in stent technology made since the advent of nitinol bare metal stents in the 1980s. The indications for use, technical considerations, treatment outcomes, and current concerns regarding current stent devices will herein be discussed in this review.