Complications after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty in the iliac, femoral, and popliteal arteries.

During a 5-year period percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) was attempted in 134 iliac, femoral, and popliteal arteries in 127 patients. Complications were systematically registered and classified as major, minor, and radiologic. Seventeen major complications (12.7%), including three deaths, occurred, as well as five minor (3.7%) and 13 radiologic complications (9.7%). The last group showed no clinical symptoms. The frequency of complications in our series is high compared with that found in a survey of 13 studies with 2043 patients. The most marked discrepancy was our high frequency of septic symptoms. A mortality rate of 2.2% was also higher in our series, but we have consequently registered the 30-day mortality rate to make comparisons with surgical series relevant. Radiologic alterations are usually not reported in other series probably because they are regarded as a part of the method, but we consider these alterations as potentially dangerous and important to report because they can result in clinically relevant complications. Because of the complications PTA should only be performed in centers in which complications can be optimally treated.