Pedal access: Put the "pedal to the metal" or drive with caution?

Pedal artery access is associated with few acute complications. Pedal access differs from radial access by often being and associated with the atherosclerotic process being treated. Long-term patency of pedal artery access is necessary before routine adoption.

The use of femoropopliteal stent-grafts for critical limb ischemia.

Peripheral vascular disease of the femoropopliteal segment is one of the most common anatomic locations leading to patient symptoms. Traditional open surgical bypass has started to be supplanted by a surge in lower risk endovascular procedures. Though midterm results of endovascular therapy have been acceptable, longer term results, especially in long diffuse disease, appear to be less durable than their surgical alternatives. Recently the Viabahn, a percutaneously placed PTFE stent-graft, has been approved for use in the femoropopliteal artery. Though the majority of the data for this stent-graft has been derived from patients with complex (>10 cm length) lesions, most of the patients have been claudicants. The population with critical limb ischemia is at particularly high risk for cardiovascular mortality and may benefit from this less invasive approach. However, stent-graft utilization is more complex and many variables must be evaluated before and during the procedure to allow for optimal procedural outcomes.