Peripheral artery disease narrows arteries in the legs, causing pain with walking and raising the risk of amputation and heart attack. About 8 million Americans have PAD, often alongside diabetes or smoking history. Current treatment centers on cholesterol-lowering statins, blood pressure control, supervised exercise, and opening blockages with stents or surgery.
What's actually going on in research
Trials are testing drugs that grow new blood vessels around blockages, gene therapies that deliver growth factors directly to leg muscles, better stents with coatings that prevent re-narrowing, and cell therapies using a person's own stem cells. Researchers are also studying intensive medical therapy that might delay or avoid procedures for many people.
Angiogenesis therapies
Drugs and gene therapies aim to stimulate new blood vessel growth around blockages, potentially restoring blood flow without surgery. Early trials show some people gaining walking distance and reducing pain.
Drug-coated devices
Newer stents and balloons release medications directly into artery walls to prevent scar tissue from closing them again. Trials are testing which coatings work best and how long they last.
Intensive medical management
Studies compare aggressive cholesterol lowering, supervised exercise programs, and newer diabetes drugs against standard care. Some people may avoid procedures entirely with this approach.
What to know before you search
Eligibility typically depends on symptom severity, ankle-brachial index measurements, prior procedures, and presence of tissue loss or ulcers.
What types of trials are currently open
- Device trials — Testing stents, balloons, and atherectomy devices that remove plaque or hold arteries open.
- Gene therapy trials — Injecting genes that tell the body to grow new blood vessels around blockages in the legs.
- Drug trials — Testing medications that improve blood flow, reduce clotting risk, or stimulate vessel growth.
- Exercise trials — Comparing structured exercise programs to usual care for improving walking distance and quality of life.
- Observational studies — Following people with PAD to understand disease progression, amputation risk, and response to treatments.
Recently added Peripheral Artery Disease trials
The Effects of Yoga Practice on Exercise Capacity, Arterial Stiffness, Respiratory Function, Peripheral Muscle Strength, Posture and Quality of Life in Children With Cystic Fibrosis
The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of exercise training applied through telerehabilitation on exercise capacity, peripheral and respiratory muscle strength, arterial stiffness, posture and quality of life in children with cystic fibrosis.
Perioperative Limb Oxygenation Monitoring in Patients With CLTI
Lower-extremity arterial disease in the stage of chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) carries a high risk of major amputation and death. According to international vascular guidelines for the management of patients with CLTI, revascularization should aim to restore blood flow to the arteries of the foot, ensuring the minimum level of perfusion required for tissue repair and regeneration. However, establishing direct blood flow to the foot arteries is often limited in patients with distal arterial occlusion or multilevel arterial disease. Furthermore, simultaneous multilevel revascularization carries an increased operative risk for patients with significant comorbidities. Collectively, these factors complicate the prediction of optimal limb perfusion-both before and after revascularization-and, consequently, the selection of an appropriate treatment strategy. Traditional diagnostic methods have limitations in assessing the severity of ischemia, particularly in patients presenting with rest pain and/or trophic lesions. The study (PERIOX) is to be undertaken to evaluate the use of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS, Medtronic, INVOS) - a rapid, simple, non-invasive, and painless method that can be applied to any area of the skin and allows for continuous, real-time monitoring of changes in tissue oxygenation - as a tool for assessing limb viability before, during, and after revascularization in patients with lower-extremity arterial disease presenting with CLTI
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