Can Blocked Leg Arteries Be Treated Without Bypass Surgery?

Yes. Angioplasty opens blocked leg arteries through a tiny needle puncture — no bypass surgery, no large incision. It is now the first-line treatment for most patients with peripheral arterial disease and has saved thousands of limbs from amputation.

What Is PAD (Peripheral Arterial Disease)?

PAD occurs when atherosclerosis — the buildup of fatty plaque — narrows or blocks the arteries that carry blood to the legs. Reduced blood flow causes pain while walking (claudication), rest pain in the feet at night, non-healing wounds or ulcers, and in severe cases, gangrene. PAD is especially common in diabetics and smokers. Left untreated, critical PAD leads to tissue death and amputation — India has one of the highest rates of diabetic limb amputation in the world, and many of these amputations are preventable.

Traditional Bypass Surgery

Bypass surgery creates a detour around the blocked artery using a graft — either a synthetic tube or a vein harvested from elsewhere in the body. It requires general or spinal anaesthesia, long incisions in the groin and leg, a hospital stay of 7–14 days, and 6–12 weeks of recovery. Wound complications occur in 15–30% of patients (much higher in diabetics), and many elderly or diabetic patients are simply not fit enough for the operation — leaving amputation as the only option offered to them.

How Angioplasty Works

Dr. Rohit Agarwal performs peripheral angioplasty through a 2mm needle puncture — usually in the groin artery, sometimes in the foot artery for below-knee blockages. A thin guidewire is carefully navigated across the blocked segment under live X-ray guidance. A tiny balloon is then threaded over the wire and inflated at the site of the blockage, compressing the plaque against the artery wall and restoring blood flow. If needed, a metal stent is placed to keep the artery open. Drug-coated balloons may also be used to prevent re-narrowing. The procedure is done under local anaesthesia, with most patients discharged within 1–2 days.

Angioplasty vs Bypass Surgery — The Comparison

Results — Dr. Rohit Agarwal's Experience

At Medanta Lucknow, Dr. Rohit Agarwal has performed over 200 peripheral angioplasty procedures and saved more than 180 limbs from amputation. His patients include some of the most complex cases — patients with long total occlusions, multi-level disease, and diabetic foot gangrene who had been told by other hospitals that amputation was the only option. One of his most memorable cases was an 85-year-old patient with diabetes and gangrene who had been advised above-knee amputation — after angioplasty, the wound healed completely and the patient walked again.