Researchers have looked at several groups of people who had angioplasty for peripheral arterial disease. In a few of these studies:

• People who had angioplasty had increased walking distance without leg pain after 6 months compared with those who did not have angioplasty. However, after 2 years, researchers did not find a significant difference in ability to walk without leg pain between those who had angioplasty and those who did not.¹
• People who had angioplasty could walk farther than people who were on a regular exercise program after 6 months, but there was not a significant difference in how far the two groups could walk after 6 years.¹
• People who had angioplasty were able to walk a little longer than those who were on a regular exercise program after 6 months, but then the time the angioplasty group could walk began to decline. For the exercise group, walk time continued to increase and was significantly longer than the angioplasty group after 12 months.²
• People who had bypass surgery to bring the blood supply around a blocked artery had greater blood flow to their leg after 12 to 24 months, but after 4 years, blood flow was equal in the angioplasty and bypass groups.¹
• People who had bypass surgery and people on a regular exercise program increased their walking time about the same amount after 8 to 9 months.³