Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of directional atherectomy with a Phoenix atherectomy system in lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (LE-PAD). Materials and methods A retrospective review of subjects who had undergone atherectomy for severe and occluded LE-PAD. Demographic data, procedural properties, and follow-up information were recorded. The technical, procedural and clinical successes were reported. Results In total, 120 subjects were evaluated. The superficial femoral artery (SFA) group consisted of 64 subjects (53.3%), and the popliteal group consisted of 56 (46.7%) subjects. Groups did not differ in terms of age, gender, comorbid diseases and tobacco use. In both groups, four subjects (6.3% of SFA and 7.1% of the popliteal group) experienced extravasation was encountered in from the vessel during the procedure. During atherectomy, two (3.3%) of the subjects in the SFA group and one (1.9%) subject in the popliteal group experienced vessel dissection. Acute technical success in this study was 96.7% for SFA and 98.1% for the popliteal group. Overall technical success was 97.7%. In the first 72 h, three (5%) of the subjects in the SFA group and four (7.7%) of the subjects in the popliteal group experienced major adverse events. Acute procedural success in this study was 91.7% for SFA and 90.4% for the popliteal group. Overall procedural success was 91.1%. Success was defined as an improvement of at least one grade in the Rutherford classification; two (3.3%) subjects did not demonstrate improvements in the SFA group, and the clinical success rate was 96.7%. All subjects in the popliteal group demonstrated an improvement of at least one grade in the Rutherford classification, and clinical success was 100%. When the groups combined all subjects, the clinical success in this study was 98.2%. Conclusion Directional atherectomy with a Phoenix atherectomy system demonstrated comparable results with the literature.