Cool Laser Saves Limbs from Amputation

A painless laser procedure that requires no surgery and minimal recovery time can save limbs with blocked blood flow from amputation.

Cool laser revascularization for peripheral artery therapy (CLiRpath), developed by Spectranetics (Colorado Springs, CO, USA), uses the company's CVX-300 excimer laser to deliver 308 nanometer wavelength "cool” ultraviolet light in short, controlled energy pulses via fiber-optic delivery devices and a catheter system made of tiny, flexible silica fibers, each about the width of a human hair.

The laser is able to precisely target and vaporize blockages, restoring blood flow without damage to the surrounding artery. After the laser procedure, balloon angioplasty is performed on almost all patients to help open the once-blocked artery. The surgery promotes wound healing, often enabling patients to leave the hospital the next day. CLiRpath has been the subject of rigorous clinical trials, with limb salvage observed in 95% of patients surviving to six months.

"You can just start at the top of the blockage with no wire, and just slowly let the laser find its way through the blockage. After you debulk the plaque in the artery, then you can come in if you need it and use a balloon and make the narrowed area more normal, said Dr. Jon Roberts of Methodist Hospital (Memphis, TN, USA). "It's kind of a last-ditch effort to keep them from losing a toe, a foot, or a leg.”

Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a condition similar to coronary artery disease. In advanced stages of PVD, common in diabetics, plaque blocks arteries, resulting in pain, development of foot ulcers, and onset of limb loss. Diabetes-associated nerve and circulatory damage are the leading causes of lower limb amputation in the United States, accounting for more than half of all foot and leg removals each year.



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