Direct drug delivery in the treatment of steno-occlusive disease of the infra-inguinal arteries.

Peripheral Artery disease (PAD) is a cause of significant morbidity and mortality, affecting over 200 million people world-wide. Many exciting technologies have emerged to address the unique challenges endovascular specialists face when treating lesions in this vascular bed. One of the enduring challenges has been restenosis after initial intervention. Here we highlight a new technology, Direct drug delivery, to address this challenge and exciting prospects. Direct drug delivery constitutes delivering drug directly to the vessel wall through a needle with a micro-infusion catheter. This device has the potential to expand the types of therapies that can be delivered in a targeted fashion and allow endovascular specialists to individualize treatment for patients.