Medcare Hospital Al Safa has introduced SPUR Retrievable Scaffold Therapy for patients with severely narrowed or blocked arteries below the knee, becoming the first hospital in Dubai reported to use the technology.
The minimally invasive system is intended to improve the treatment of complex disease in the small arteries supplying blood to the lower leg and foot. This may be particularly important for people with diabetes, whose foot wounds can deteriorate when peripheral arterial disease restricts the circulation needed for tissue repair.
Unlike a conventional vascular stent that remains permanently inside the body, the SPUR scaffold is deployed temporarily during the procedure and completely retrieved afterwards. This gives the artery short-term mechanical support without leaving a permanent metal implant behind.
The introduction was reported by Gulf Daily News, citing TradeArabia News Service.
Why below-the-knee circulation matters
Below-the-knee, or infrapopliteal, arteries supply blood to the lower leg and foot. When these vessels become severely narrowed or blocked, the resulting lack of oxygenated blood can cause pain, non-healing wounds, infection and progressive tissue loss.
In advanced cases, this condition may be described as chronic limb-threatening ischaemia. Without timely vascular assessment and appropriate treatment, the patient may face minor or major amputation.
The issue has particular relevance in the UAE. The International Diabetes Federation reports a diabetes prevalence of 20.7% among adults in the country, based on its 2024 data.
Diabetes can contribute to peripheral arterial disease while also causing neuropathy, which reduces protective sensation in the feet. A person may therefore develop a wound without immediately recognising it, while impaired circulation limits the body’s ability to heal.
How SPUR therapy works
Balloon angioplasty is commonly used to reopen a narrowed artery. A catheter-mounted balloon is positioned inside the diseased section and inflated to enlarge the passage available for blood flow.
Treating arteries below the knee can be challenging because the vessels are small and may contain extensive calcification. Even after balloon inflation, some arteries recoil or narrow again when the balloon is removed.
The SPUR Peripheral Retrievable Stent System is designed as an adjunct to angioplasty. Its self-expanding scaffold incorporates radially expandable elements intended to penetrate and modify the lesion while supporting the artery during balloon treatment.
Once treatment is complete, the system is collapsed and removed from the body. The aim is to achieve the mechanical benefit of temporary scaffolding while preserving a leave-nothing-behind result.
This may be valuable where clinicians want to avoid a permanent implant in small, complex vessels or retain options for future interventions.
In May 2025, the US Food and Drug Administration granted the system De Novo classification as a Class II medical device. Its US indication covers use alongside percutaneous transluminal angioplasty to dilate stenoses in infrapopliteal arteries measuring between 2.5mm and 4.5mm in diameter. Indications and regulatory requirements may differ between countries. FDA De Novo decision.
First patient treated in Dubai
Medcare’s first reported patient was a 71-year-old Emirati woman experiencing tissue loss because of severely reduced blood flow to her foot.
The clinical team reopened the narrowed below-the-knee artery, applied SPUR therapy and retrieved the device at the end of the procedure. According to Medcare, follow-up imaging showed improved blood flow without immediate procedural complications. The wound subsequently continued to improve and the limb was preserved.
Dr Saher Arour, Consultant Vascular Surgeon at Medcare Hospital Al Safa, performed the procedure.
He explained that temporary scaffolding may help address vessel recoil after balloon angioplasty without requiring a permanent implant. Restoring circulation, he added, can give a poorly perfused foot wound a better opportunity to heal.
Bilal Al Soweissi, Chief Operating Officer of Medcare Hospital Al Safa, said the introduction gives patients with complex below-the-knee arterial disease access to another advanced treatment option in Dubai. He highlighted its potential importance for patients with diabetic foot wounds, where timely restoration of blood flow can contribute to healing and limb preservation.
What the supporting evidence shows
Reflow Medical reports that the SPUR system was evaluated in the DEEPER REVEAL clinical study involving 130 patients at 49 centres in the United States.
Following vessel predilatation, the study recorded a 99.2% technical-success rate and 97% freedom from major adverse limb events and perioperative death at 30 days. Technical success was defined as less than 30% residual narrowing based on visual estimation. Reflow Medical clinical and regulatory announcement.
These early results supported the FDA submission, but they should be interpreted in context. Technical success and short-term safety do not, on their own, establish long-term wound healing, sustained vessel patency or amputation-free survival in every patient.
Similarly, the successful Dubai procedure represents an encouraging first clinical case rather than proof that the technology will prevent amputation across a wider population. Patient selection, the extent of vascular disease, infection, tissue damage and the quality of follow-up care will all influence the outcome.
Relevance to prosthetists, orthotists and diabetic-foot teams
Although SPUR is a vascular intervention rather than a prosthetic or orthotic technology, its introduction is relevant to the P&O profession.
Limb preservation begins upstream of prosthetic rehabilitation. Prosthetists and orthotists increasingly work within multidisciplinary diabetic-foot services alongside vascular surgeons, rehabilitation physicians, podiatrists, endocrinologists, wound-care specialists, physiotherapists and specialist nurses.
Restoring blood flow does not remove the need for comprehensive foot management. Patients may still require:
- Pressure-relieving footwear or orthoses
- Therapeutic offloading
- Wound and infection management
- Glycaemic control
- Regular vascular and foot surveillance
- Gait and mobility rehabilitation
- Education on footwear, skin inspection and recurrence prevention
The International Working Group on the Diabetic Foot emphasises the importance of recognising peripheral arterial disease and coordinating vascular treatment within multidisciplinary diabetic-foot care.
After revascularisation, orthotic intervention must be planned carefully. Loading should reflect the condition of the wound, tissue tolerance, vascular status and instructions of the treating team. Improved circulation gives the tissue a better opportunity to heal, but it does not immediately make the foot safe for unrestricted weight-bearing.
For patients who cannot achieve limb preservation, timely communication between vascular, rehabilitation and prosthetic teams remains essential. Where amputation becomes unavoidable, coordinated surgical planning can help preserve the most functional level possible and prepare the patient for rehabilitation.
A developing component of limb-salvage care
Medcare Hospital Al Safa’s adoption of SPUR reflects a broader shift towards technologies designed to improve revascularisation while minimising permanent material left inside small arteries.
For Dubai and the wider IMEA region, the development also reinforces the importance of integrated limb-salvage pathways. Advanced vascular devices can play an important role, but their value is greatest when combined with early referral, infection control, wound care, pressure management, rehabilitation and long-term prevention.
The first Dubai case provides an encouraging clinical example. Wider experience and longer-term outcome data will help determine how SPUR contributes to wound healing, repeat-intervention rates and amputation prevention among patients with complex below-the-knee arterial disease.
- Gulf Daily News: New Removable Stent Technology Comes to Dubai
- Medcare Hospital Al Safa
- Reflow Medical: SPUR Peripheral Retrievable Stent System
- FDA De Novo Classification Decision for SPUR
- International Diabetes Federation: United Arab Emirates
- IWGDF Guideline on Peripheral Artery Disease and the Diabetic Foot