Techniques and outcomes for endovascular treatment in the tibial arteries.

Interventional therapy for tibial arteries is a key part of the vascular specialist armamentarium. Tibial artery interventional therapy has been proven to lead to limb salvage with low morbidity and mortality in patients with critical limb ischemia and should be used as a first line treatment mode in the majority of patients, especially in those with significant medical comorbidities. The exceptions are the patients with extensive tissue loss and infection, where endovascular therapy may not restore enough flow to achieve rapid healing and limb salvage, and those patients with tissue loss in the setting extensive, multi-level, occlusive disease, where patency to the completion of wound healing will be unlikely. However, differences in outcome between available devices are unknown and ways to increase long term patency remain poorly defined.