Objective To investigate the clinical significance of compensatory angiogenesis and the angiosome-based revascularization strategy for endovascular procedures in treating infrapopliteal critical limb ischemia in elderly diabetic patients.Methods A retrospective study of 194 patients with diabetic feet (Fontaine Ⅳ) who had undergone endovascular procedures at our hospital from January 2005 to December 2014 was performed.Based on the angiosome concept,all subjects were classified into the direct revascularization group (DR group),the indirect revascularization through collaterals group (IR-tc group) and the indirect revascularization without collaterals group (IR-wc group).After one-year follow-up,the therapeutic effects were analyzed and compared between the three groups.Results During the one-year follow-up,the rate of unhealed ulcers,the re-intervention rate and the rate of major adverse limb events (MALE) were higher in the IR-wc group than in the DR and IR-tc groups (P=0.000 and 0.000,P=0.025 and 0.013,P=0.014 and 0.023,respectively).The IR-wc group presented a lower limb salvage rate as compared with those in the DR and IR-tc groups (P=0.011 and 0.027).Patients with a single recanalized branch had a higher rate of unhealed ulcers than those with multiple recanalized branches in the IR-wc group (93.9％ vs.71.0％,P=0.015).Conclusions The angiosome-based revascularization strategy has shown important value in guiding endovascular procedures for patients with diabetic foot disease and,in particular,the compensatory angiogenesis approach appears to be critical in generating favorable short-term clinical outcomes in the treatment of diabetic foot disease.