title: [Lights and shadows of guidelines on peripheral arterial disease].
abstract: Guidelines have become increasingly important in the choice of the best treatment for each disease. At present, they should be regarded as recommendations drawn from a multidisciplinary and shared interpretation of available scientific information to assist physicians and patients in deciding the most appropriate program of care for a specific clinical condition. Since many years, the TransAtlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) guidelines have represented the reference guidelines for peripheral arterial disease, widely accepted by the scientific community. A continuous update of guidelines should be advisable, at least on a 2-year basis, in order to include new evidence derived from clinical research and practice. In particular, endovascular treatment should be considered the first-line therapeutic option for all patients with peripheral arterial disease, different from what suggested by current guidelines. The results obtained at our Division of Vascular Surgery support this indication, showing a low complication rate and reserving surgery only to selected cases or hybrid procedures.
authors.affiliation: U.O. Chirurgia Vascolare, A.O. Ospedale Maggiore, Crema. a.farina@hcrema.it
authors.forename: Augusto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spinazzola
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orlandelli
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Arpini
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bergamaschi
authors.forename: Pierangelo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Berticelli
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Riva
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000592:standards