Peripheral vascular disease or PVD occurs when arteries get narrow down because of a build-up of fatty deposits or plaque in the arteries lining. This medical condition is often known as atherosclerosis. This situation finally restricts the blood flow to the limbs, causing severe pain. Atherosclerosis can impact any artery but when it only affects arteries supplying your limbs, the PVD is referred to as PAD.
Do you know that more than 8 million US citizens are PAD patients? Peripheral vascular disease -PAD is a circulatory condition in which blood flow to the limbs is reduced due to atherosclerosis (fatty deposits) in your arteries or plaque build-up. Blood flow to the legs, arms, stomach, kidneys are often restricted due to blood vessels getting narrowed down and the patient can become open to heart attack and stroke risks. The most notable symptoms of PAD is leg pain while walking or
claudication.
As per the Coastal Vascular medical professionals, the symptoms of PAD and peripheral vascular disease are quite similar. It is necessary to understand the symptoms before discussing peripheral arterial disease treatment. Some of the common and not to be ignored PAD symptoms are:-
- Leg weakness or numbness, tiredness or muscles cramping in your thigh, calf, hip, or buttock.Coldness in your foot or lower leg, pain in your feet or toes, no pulse or a weak pulse in legs/feet, etc…
- Open wound or ulcer at the pressure point on your foot. In severe condition, ulcers can develop into gangrene and amputation risks.
- Hair loss or slow hair growth on your legs and shiny skin on your legs.
- Erectile dysfunction in men.
Before recommending any peripheral arterial disease treatment, some medical tests are performed by the Artery and veins doctors. Decreased blood pressure and poor wound healing in the affected limb are the common diagnoses while others are:-
- The physical examination can help vascular experts to track down peripheral vascular disease either through hearing whooshing sounds over your arteries by a stethoscope or through weak or absent pulse below a narrowed area of your artery.
- Injecting a dye into your blood vessels to vie the flow of the blood through your arteries in real time via imaging techniques like X-Ray-MRA- Magnetic Resonance Angiography or by CTA- computerized tomography angiography.
- ABI-Ankle-Brachial Index is most commonly used in the Peripheral arterial disease diagnose to compare the blood pressure in your ankle with that in your arm.
- A blood sample can be taken to measure your diabetes, triglycerides, and cholesterol.
- Doppler ultrasound test assists in evaluating blood flow through blood vessels to identify narrowed arteries.
How peripheral arterial disease treatment is done?
- You can be recommended medications to keep blood pressure in check and treat high cholesterol levels. These medicines aim to reduce pain in the limbs and prevent the formation of blood clots or plaque.
- Another most popular treatment is minimally invasive interventional radiology-Angioplasty to open a blocked artery with a medical balloon for more proper blood flow.
- Atherectomy treatment-another third interventional radiology procedure is used for removing atherosclerosis from the blood vessels within the patient body. A catheter with a pointed blade on the end is inserted into the artery via small puncture to remove fatty deposits from the blood vessels.
- Stent-graft or placing a stent covered with a synthetic fabric in the patient’s blood vessels to bypass the impacted arteries is also one of the procedure.
- In severe cases, surgery is the only option to remove blockages or create bypasses.
Stop waiting before it’s too late. Contact the right Vascular treatment center like Coastal Vascular to learn more your artery and venous medical condition so that the right treatment can be prescribed to you before the situation gets out of the hands.
