Is Angiosome-Guided Endovascular Therapy Worthwhile?

Abstract

Endovascular therapy (EVT) plays a major role in the treatment of critical limb ischemia (CLI). The latest guidelines state that the angiosome concept should be considered when performing revascularization of infrapopliteal lesions in patients with CLI. There have been several reports both of favorable and unfavorable results of angiosome-guided EVT. Based on previous reports, angiosome-guided EVT tends to improve wound healing (WH) rather than amputation-free survival and overall survival. In addition, indirect revascularization based on the angiosome concept with a good collateral flow may achieve good WH comparable to that achieved by direct revascularization. In the future, rather than just debating the effectiveness/ineffectiveness of the angiosome concept, it will be desirable to investigate the patient and lesion characteristics that may have significant influences on WH after angiosome-guided EVT and to apply the results to clinical practice.