RESUMO
We report the results of 68 balloon angioplasties performed on 48 male and female patients who presented with claudication pain during the period from January 1993 to March 1994. Risk factors included diabetes in 5 patients, hypertension in 10 and active cigarette smoking in 13. Twenty procedures were performed for iliac segment disease and the remaining 48 were for femoro-distal segment lesions. Thirteen endovascular Palmaz balloon-expandable stents were used in 10 patients. There were no deaths in this group; however, there were 2 unsuccessful attempts and the procedure was complicated by major dissection and acute occlusion with immediate bypass in one case. Symptomatic post-angioplasty re-stenosis [PARS] occurred in 3 patients and asymptomatic restonsis in one [27%] over the mean follow-up period of six months. The mean cost of the materials alone was US$ 993.0 +/- SD767.7 [range 280.6 - 4147.5], the mean operative time was 79.4 minutes +/- SD39.8 [range 20.0 - 215.0] and the mean hospital stay was 2 days, compared with 7 - 10 days in patients undergoing conventional bypass surgery in the same hospital. Peripheral balloon angioplasty can be safely performed in intermittent claudicants with minimal morbidity and mortality, shorter hospital stay and excellent short term symptomatic relief