Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)
How is it treated?
Individuals with risk factors should be screened for PAD, even if they do not have symptoms. Treatments for PAD include lifestyle changes, medications, and surgery.
Lifestyle changes are an important part of the prevention and treatment of PAD. Lifestyle changes help manage your symptoms and may even help stop progression of the disease. Some risk factors, like your age or a family history of stroke or heart disease, cannot be changed. Other factors, like smoking and physical inactivity, can and should be changed.
- Smoking - Of all the risk factors for PAD, smoking has been the most closely associated with the development of PAD and is therefore the most important risk factor you can change to decrease the chance of developing PAD. Smoking can even interfere with the treatment of PAD. There are a variety of products available to help you quit smoking. For more information on smoking cessation, please visit our smoking cessation health condition.
- Exercise - Exercise is also an important aspect to the treatment of PAD. Your doctor may want you to start exercising regularly to help you increase the distance you can walk without pain. Exercise can also help you maintain a healthy weight. Talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program. Your doctor can help you find the exercise program that is right for you.
- Diet - Eating a healthy diet that is low in fat and cholesterol can help control high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, both of which are risk factors for the development of PAD.
- Foot care - PAD increases your risk of infection from foot wounds and can also lengthen the time it takes for wounds to heal. Proper foot care is especially important if you also have diabetes. The following is a list of proper foot care techniques:
- Wash and moisturize your feet daily
- Wear dry socks and well-fitting shoes
- Treat any fungal infection of the feet, such as athlete?s foot, quickly
- Carefully trim your nails
- Do not walk barefoot
- See your doctor at the first sign of a sore or injury to your skin
Medications can also be used to treat PAD. Pentoxifylline (Trental) and cilostazol (Pletal) both help treat the symptoms of intermittent claudication, the pain you may feel when walking or climbing stairs. Some medications can also help lower your risk of developing PAD. In addition, your doctor may prescribe these medications to help manage other health conditions you may have that are associated with PAD. Cholesterol-lowering medications, such as simvastatin, can be used to decrease your cholesterol to a healthy level and help prevent the accumulation of plaque in your blood vessels. Your doctor may also prescribe medication to lower your blood pressure and keep your blood sugar under control. PAD can also increase your risk of developing a blood clot, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. To help prevent blood clots from forming, your doctor may want you to take a daily dose of aspirin, clopidogrel (Plavix), or other similar medications. For patients with blocked arteries, drugs may be used that dissolve clots. These medications are known as thrombolytics.
If blood flow is almost or completely blocked, surgery may be necessary to help restore blood flow. Surgery is not a cure for PAD and is only an option for patients who have tried and failed lifestyle changes and medication therapies. Angioplasty is a surgery where a small tube with a deflated balloon attached to the end is inserted into the blocked artery. Once inside, the balloon is inflated, pushing the plaque against the wall of the artery and restoring blood flow through the artery. Often a stent, or a very small cage-like tube similar to the spring inside a ball point pen, is attached to the balloon. When the balloon is inflated, the stent helps push and hold the plaque against the wall of the artery. Some stents, known as drug-eluting stents, are embedded with medications that are released into the blood vessels and help prevent further plaque formation.
Other procedures for PAD treatment include endarectomies and by-pass grafts. These are more invasive procedures that some doctors use to restore blood flow through or around blocked vessels. Endarterectomy is a procedure in which the plaque inside the blood vessel is removed surgically to allow blood to carry oxygen to the muscles. A bypass graft is another option for some patients. Doctors can use a blood vessel from another part of your body or one that has been man-made and ?bypass,? or go around, the blocked artery. This restores blood flow to the legs.
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How is it treated?
