PAD artery disease is a medical condition in which the physicians diagnose by doing physical examination and questioning patients about their medical history.
PAD symptoms and signs
If you are suffering from PAD, the pulse in that area may appear weak or even not palpable.
Tests
A few tests could help diagnose peripheral artery disease (PAD) or diagnose conditions that may contribute to it.
Blood tests
Blood tests are used to test some of the risk factors that cause PAD. Some of the most common include having high cholesterol and even diabetes.
Ankle-brachial index (ABI)
The most commonly used test for this condition is the ABI or the ankle-brachial index test. It measures the ratio of blood pressure in your ankle compared to that in your arm.
The doctor may ask you to walk on a treadmill and will notice your blood pressure before and after you exercise. This helps to know what happens with the arteries while you are doing the exercise.
Ultrasound of the legs or feet
It produces images of how blood flows in the blood vessels of the legs or feet by using sound waves. The Doppler ultrasound is especially used to diagnose stenosis or blocked arteries, as it measures differences in blood flow.
Angiography
It is one of the Peripheral artery artery disease tests which shows the flow of blockage within the arteries is by using a contrast agent. The agent of contrast is included into a blood vessel. It helps to enhance the contrast in the visual view of the arteries and the surrounding tissues.
Treatment options for peripheral artery disease
Treatment of peripheral artery disease aims to:
There are three ways to treat PAD depending upon the severity of the condition.
You can make lifestyle changes to manage the symptoms, especially if you have early peripheral artery disease.
PAD Medications
Once you begin feeling the complications of PAD, and its symptoms, you will be on medications. Some of the commonly prescribed drugs you will take are the following:
Statins: They constitute a group of anti-lipid medication. Statins may bring down the plaque within your walls. The drugs also tend to decrease the risk of having heart attacks and PAD artery disease.
Antihypertensive medications: Uncontrolled high blood pressure stiffens and makes your vessels inflexible. This then reduces blood flow. If you are suffering from high blood pressure, the doctor might prescribe some medication for that. Don't forget to ask what your blood pressure should be.
Diabetes medications: Diabetes is a major risk factor for developing PAD. You must discuss the goals for blood sugar levels with your health care provider and how you can reach them.
Antiplatelet drugs: In PAD, there is often a cause of clotting due to slowly moving blood. Often you will be prescribed either aspirin or another antiplatelet drug, which is called clopidogrel (Plavix).
Leg pain: A patient diagnosed with peripheral artery disease will be prescribed a relatively familiar drug-a drug like cilostazol would be prescribed to help alleviate pains in the legs. Such a drug relaxes the area and facilitates ease for blood to flow towards the affected area.
Surgery or Other Procedures
In some cases when nothing works, a surgery or procedure is necessary to treat the symptoms of peripheral artery disease.
Thrombolytic therapy
If a clot is occluding an artery, medicine can be injected directly into the involved artery to dissolve the clot.
Peripheral artery stenting
This is a procedure that may potentially relieve PAD pain if it can be determined that narrowed arteries are indeed causing pain. This is a minimally invasive procedure involving the use of a stent to open the blocked artery.
The surgeon will make a small incision and use a catheter to open the blockage within the artery. They will insert a stent within the artery that helps keep the artery open and avoid peripheral artery disease.
To prevent clotting around this tube, the surgeon may suggest antiplatelet drugs. While there will be little soreness initially, the swelling will subside and complete recovery will take place in around 6 weeks.
Bypass surgery
This surgery helps bypass the blood flow around an artery with partial or complete blockage towards the muscle. A surgeon removes a healthy vessel from another body location to attach it below the blocked artery. The new pathway or bypass created by the surgeon helps improve the blood flow to the muscle.
Care at our Hospital
Sohana Hospital’s compassionate and knowledgeable team of specialists work with you to treat Peripheral artery disease (PAD).