title: Drug eluting devices for critically ill patients: can we apply lessons learned from the treatment of peripheral artery disease?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the use of drug-eluting devices in peripheral arteries of critically ill patients
  
  
  RESULTS
  Drug eluting stents and drug coated balloons are promising technologies and have become an important tool for the endovascular treatment of peripheral artery disease. The concept of local drug delivery to prevent restenosis due to intimal hyperplasia has been proven in several trials for different peripheral vascular beds. Especially for the treatment of patients with critical lower limb ischemia, improved patency could presumably improve wound healing, survival and limb salvage rates. However, until now, there is a paucity of evidence regarding these devices in critically ill patients and lessons learned must be extrapolated from non-critically ill patients at this time.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Restenosis rates can be reduced by drug eluting devices. Further study of the clinical impact of the use of drug eluting devices in the peripheral arteries will be required to determine if improved patency rates also can be translated into clinical benefit for critically ill patients.
authors: Vascular Clinic, Hanusch-Krankenhaus, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: office@drwerner.eu.
authors: Martin
authors: M
authors: Werner
authors: Center for Vascular Medicine, Park-Krankenhaus Leipzig, Germany.
authors: Dierk
authors: D
authors: Scheinert
mesh_terms: D000800:Angioplasty, Balloon / Q000379:methods; D023903:Coronary Restenosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D016638:Critical Illness; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems; D054855:Drug-Eluting Stents; D006801:Humans; D058729:Peripheral Arterial Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014654:Vascular Patency / Q000187:drug effects
keywords: Critical limb ischemia; Drug-eluting balloons; Drug-eluting stents; Peripheral artery disease; Peripheral catheterization; Restenosis