What You Need to Know About PAD

Peripheral artery disease, commonly referred to as PAD, occurs when the arteries to the legs become blocked.
This occurs when plaque builds up within the arteries, closing them and preventing blood from properly flowing. Since blood carries oxygen and other nutrients to the tissues, these blockages can cause symptoms and serious health problems.
Also, since these problems are not limited to the legs, PAD is often a marker for risk of other illness such as heart disease and stroke risk.
The most common symptom of PAD is leg pain when walking. This is known as intermittent claudication. As the condition worsens, the pain can occur even when not walking. Individuals might also experience a cold or numb feeling, or notice discoloration in the affected leg.
In more serious cases, individuals might have wounds that either do not heal, or are very slow to heal. If untreated, sever PAD can lead to amputation of the affected leg.
Not everyone with PAD had symptoms. The condition can be silent. However, it can be diagnosed through a thorough examination of pulses and by measuring blood pressure in the legs. Noninvasive vascular tests such as Doppler ultrasound and blood flow studies are also frequently used to assist in making the diagnosis.
The most common risk factors for PAD are cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, family history and increasing age. Some affected people do not have any of these risk factors.
Women and men can both be affected.
Treatment of PAD varies widely, depending on the severity of the case and an affected person’s particular situation. In cases where symptoms are mild or if there are no symptoms at all, treatment is aimed at modifying risk factors. This includes quitting smoking, managing high blood pressure and cholesterol, and exercise. Often, medications can also be used to help relieve symptoms and prevent complications.
In more severe cases, minimally invasive procedures use angioplasty and stents can often be used to repair the damaged arteries. These procedures are usually performed on an outpatient basis, without incision and can often be used in place of conventional surgery.
However in some cases, surgery is required to either repair the damaged artery or to create a new passage for it to travel through.
Certainly, not all leg pain is caused by PAD. Diseased veins (rather than arteries) are also a common cause of leg pain and other symptoms. There are also many nonvascular causes of leg pain such as lumbar spine (low back) conditions and arthritis, to name just a few.
Dr. Stephen Gosin, and Dr. Jeffrey Gosin, at Jersey Shore Center for Vascular Health 442 Bethel Road, Somers Point, NJ 08244.