Lower extremity bypass vs endovascular therapy for young patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease.

Abstract

The uncertainty continues over the best approach to patients with symptomatic peripheral arterial disease. Medical therapy and risk factor modification is part of any treatment regimen; with this there is little disagreement. However, with the introduction of lesser invasive percutaneous technologies, the discussion regarding surgical and endovascular therapies has become more and more complicated. Unfortunately, there is a relative shortage of robust outcomes data to support many of our specific treatment recommendations. Younger patients are an especially troublesome patient cohort. They have consistently shown poorer outcomes after any intervention compared with older patients and may represent a subset of more aggressive atherosclerotic disease. Our debaters will discuss their preferred approaches to these difficult patients in the context of the currently available supporting literature.