VIDEO: PAD patients have a wide variety of treatment options

Patients often have misconceptions about treatments for peripheral artery disease (PAD) and critical limb ischemia (CLI) and rely or ignore care because they think their own option is open surgical procedures.

Cardiovascular Business spoke with Pedro Martinez Clark, MD, an interventional cardiologist and founder and medical director of Amavita Heart and Vascular Health in Miami. He set up PAD clinics to screen low-income patients in underserved Cuban and Haitian communities, where he hears patients talk about the fear of surgery.  

"Back in the day, you needed to have this big peripheral artery bypass operation. And those operations are still very, very valid, important and they have a role in treatment. And vascular surgeons are extremely proficient at doing really complicated and complex bypass surgeries in the lower extremities. But, there are several options, and the vast majority of the first line of therapy for PAD is medical therapy and exercise," Clark explained.

He said the next step is usually a minimally invasive, out-patient cath lab procedure, rather than surgery. "These are nonsurgical procedures that are very safe and is ambulatory," he said.

Clark explained that the procedures can access arteries that are as small as 2.5 millimeters in size using ultrasound guidance with a little bit of sedation and a little bit of in local anesthesia.