Peripheral artery disease, sometimes called PAD, is usually caused by plaque buildup in the blood. This stenosis is similar to coronary artery disease and most often affects the arteries in the kidneys, stomach, arms, legs, and feet. Many people with peripheral artery disease may also have coronary artery disease and be at an increased risk of a heart attack.

Medications can sometimes be used to relieve some of the symptoms of peripheral artery stenosis. A narrowed artery will often require angioplasty to open up the narrowed area in the vessel. During balloon angioplasty, a long, thin tube (catheter) with a small deflated ballon is inserted into an artery and is guided to the blocked peripheral artery. Once in the proper position, the balloon is inflated, flattening the fatty plaque against the artery wall and enlarging the previously blocked space. The balloon is then withdrawn from the artery. A small, mesh-like metal device called a stent is often inserted into the affected artery after angioplasty to keep the peripheral artery open to blood flow.

Often stents contain medicine that helps keep the artery open. These drug-eluting stents are important because up to 20% of patients who have had balloon angioplasty require another operation because of restenosis, the closing of the peripheral artery. Abraxis is doing research with drug eluting stents to help keep vessels open after angioplasty.