Ramon Varcoe

Background: Chronic limb-threatening ischaemia can be a debilitating disease and may result in limb amputation if untreated. Atherosclerotic disease of the infra-popliteal arteries is particularly challenging to treat due to the small caliber of the vessels and the heavy burden of atherosclerotic plaque. Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty is the conventional first-line approach and is advantageous due to its minimal invasiveness, repeatability, and cost-effectiveness but is limited by high rates of elastic recoil, dissection, and short- to mid-term re-stenosis. Methods: This review analyses the growing body of published and presented clinical data from multiple randomised controlled trials that have investigated the role of coronary drug-eluting stents in the treatment of infrapopliteal disease. Results: Coronary drug-eluting stents demonstrate superior primary patency compared with angioplasty and/or bare metal stenting alone but are limited to application in short-segment disease and have not been widely adopted due to the nature of the permanent implant. Conclusions: Newer devices like drug-eluting resorbable scaffolds are promising as they allow the restoration of vessel wall vasomotion without a residual foreign body and can be used to treat longer, complex lesions.