📖 Overview
Peripheral angioplasty is a minimally invasive technique used to treat narrowed or blocked arteries outside the heart — typically the arteries supplying the legs, kidneys, or other abdominal organs. A balloon catheter is advanced to the stenosis under fluoroscopic guidance and inflated to restore blood flow. A stent (metal scaffold) is often placed to maintain the vessel open.
At Cochin AP-HP, peripheral vascular interventions are performed by senior interventional radiologists under local anaesthesia, usually as a day procedure. Our intra-procedural CT guidance provides outstanding image quality for complex cases.
⚡ At a glance — key figures
Angioplasty widens a narrowed artery or vein using a balloon, sometimes followed by a stent, delivered through a catheter via a simple puncture — with no surgical incision.
| Criterion | Data |
|---|---|
| Anaesthesia / stay | Local — day case in most patients |
| Scar | None — percutaneous approach |
| Indications | Peripheral arterial disease, venous strictures, dialysis fistula maintenance |
| Cost | Yes. At Cochin AP-HP (a French public hospital), this procedure is covered by national health insurance with no out-of-pocket fees. Please use our contact form. |
Data validated by the team of Prof. Anthony Dohan, Department of Interventional Radiology, Cochin Hospital AP-HP.
🎯 Indications
- Peripheral artery disease (PAD) — claudication or critical limb ischaemia
- Renal artery stenosis — renovascular hypertension or ischaemic nephropathy
- Mesenteric artery stenosis (chronic mesenteric ischaemia)
- Subclavian artery stenosis
- Post-surgical or post-radiation arterial stenosis
- Stenosis of venous or arterial bypass grafts
🔧 Procedure
CT angiography or Doppler ultrasound to map arterial anatomy and plan intervention.
Femoral or radial artery puncture under local anaesthesia. No general anaesthesia required in most cases.
Guidewire and catheter advanced to the stenosis under fluoroscopic guidance.
Balloon inflated to dilate the stenosis. Drug-eluting or bare-metal stent deployed if required. Procedure time: 45–90 minutes.
2–4 hours bed rest after femoral puncture. Same-day discharge in most cases.
❓ FAQs
🔗 Related pages
❓ Frequently asked questions
✓ Why this page is trustworthy
Written by the Interventional Radiology team at Cochin Hospital AP-HP, Université Paris Cité. Medically reviewed by an interventional radiologist of the department. Last updated: August 2026.