Pharmacological interventions on critical limb ischemia in diabetic patients.

Peripheral arterial disease is highly prevalent in patients with diabetes mellitus. Critical limb ischemia is an important component of this disease entity. Early diagnosis, identification of risk factors, and appropriate therapeutic management strategies are needed to aggresively treat this disease. This paper reviews risk factors for critical limb ischemia and discusses updates on pharmacologic therapies with a specific focus on the diabetic population.