📖 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 Nexaris Angio-CT provides outstanding image quality for complex cases.
🎯 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.