Drug-coated balloons and their place in treating peripheral arterial disease.

Drug-coated balloons (DCB) have emerged as an additional treatment option for managing restenosis in lesions of the superficial femoral artery and of the infrapopliteal arterial bed. Relatively limited data are available on the use of DCB in these lesions, but scientific evidence is mounting. In five randomized controlled trials, late lumen loss 6 months after the intervention was found to be markedly lower in patients treated with paclitaxel-coated balloons (PCB) compared with uncoated balloons. Different types of PCB are currently on the market. It remains to be seen how different coatings affect the performance of PCB and clinical outcome. Long-term results are also awaited. In this review, the authors describe the components of DCB and how they affect performance. Then, the authors provide an overview of clinical results obtained with PCB in the superficial femoral artery and below the knee, and finally the article gives an outlook on the future of DCB in peripheral arterial disease.