Treatment of Acute Lower-Extremity Arterial Occlusions With a Combined Mechanical and Aspiration Thrombectomy System

Patients with acute limb ischemia require immediate intervention to treat limb-threatening arterial occlusions. The Artix thrombectomy system has been designed to leverage both aspiration and mechanical elements for clearing thrombus burden of varying size and chronicity. It also provides proximal flow restriction utilizing a covered funnel catheter to reduce the risk of thrombus migration. Here, we report a series of 3 cases using the Artix system for treating acute limb ischemia patients with arterial occlusions in both a synthetic femoropopliteal bypass graft and native arteries extending from the common femoral artery to the tibial runoff vessels. Notably, Artix was utilized bilaterally in 1 patient to address occlusions in each lower extremity after overnight thrombolytic therapy demonstrated no improvement. By utilizing the Artix thrombectomy system, the treating physicians successfully revascularized all intended segments resulting in symptom resolution, limb preservation, and no need for adjunctive thrombolytic therapy or other thrombectomy devices.