Trends in the national outcomes and costs for claudication and limb threatening ischemia: Angioplasty vs bypass graft

Debate exists as to the benefit of angioplasty vs bypass graft in the treatment of lower extremity peripheral vascular disease. The associated costs are poorly defined in the literature. We sought to determine national estimates for the costs, utilization, and outcomes of angioplasty and bypass graft for the treatment of both claudication and limb threat.We searched the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database (1999-2007), identifying patients...