Emerging National Trends in the Management and Outcomes of Lower Extremity Peripheral Arterial Disease

In this study, we sought to analyze emerging national trends in the treatment of lower extremity peripheral arterial disease and associated outcomes.The Nationwide Inpatient Sample was queried between 2001 and 2007. Patients diagnosed with lower extremity atherosclerosis were selected by using the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision codes 440.20-440.24, resulting in an average of 307,000 annual hospitalizations. Within this...