Peripheral Vascular Disease

Peripheral vascular disease is an occlusion of the blood supply to the extremities by atherosclerotic plaques. It most commonly affect to the lower extremities.

Signs and Symptoms:

• Intermittent claudication (leg pain when walking and relieved by rest)
• Dorsal foot ulcerations may develope
• Painful, cold, and numb on foot
• Aortoiliac disease: buttock claudication and femoral pulses are absent, impotence in male
• Femoropopliteal disease: calf claudication, pulses below the femoral artery are absent
• Small vessel disease: foot pulses are absent
• Acute ischemia: caused by embolization from the heart
• Severe chronic ischemia: mucle atrophy, pallor, cyanosis, hair loss, and gangrene/necrosis

Diagnostic Procedures:

• Palpation of pulses and auscultation for bruits
• Measurement of ankle and brachial systolic BP
• Droppler ultrasound
• Arteriography and digital substraction angiography

Treatments:

• Control the underlying causes
• Eliminate tobacco
• Hygiene and foot care
• Exercise
• Aspirin, cilostazol, and thromboxane inhibitors
• Angioplasty and stenting
• Surgery (artery bypass) or amputation