By: Renelene A. Macabeo, MD, FPCP, FPCC, FPSVM Cardiologist – Peripheral Vascular Medicine

Have you ever felt a progressive leg pain while walking in short or long distances? You stop for a while and sit, then after your leg pain was resolved with rest, it recurred again when you proceed with walking.

Maybe you are suffering from “peripheral artery disease” (PAD) also known as “lower extremity arterial disease”. It is a condition referring to a partial or complete blockage with plaques of one or more arteries, which are the vessels that carry oxygenated blood to the legs.

Insufficient blood supply to the legs may cause pain and dysfunction during an activity, which is indicative of exercise-induced ischemic pain. Patients often describe it as cramping, burning, heaviness, fatigue or tightness on both legs. Patients with PAD develop leg symptoms that impair their walking ability, hence, functional limitation which leads to poor clinical outcomes.

The risk factors of PAD include hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, dyslipidemia, obesity, and chronic kidney disease. Given the common risk factors of PAD and other cardiovascular diseases, it is more likely that these diseases may occur concomitantly. In patients with clinical PAD, 40-60% also have clinical coronary artery disease.

Patients with these conditions should seek medical attention, because if left untreated, they may have foot sores or wounds that won’t heal, and even gangrene or blackening of the toes. These are the most debilitating manifestations of PAD known as critical limb ischemia that may need revascularization to restore blood flow to the arteries by angioplasty or surgery, or worse, amputation.

Initial evaluation includes measurement of ankle-brachial index, or an anatomical imaging such as an arterial duplex scan. More than half of patients with PAD can be treated with lifestyle changes, exercise and medications alone. Early diagnosis and care is very important because saving a patient’s leg, will also save the patient from devastating consequences of PAD.

Dr. Macabeo is a Cardiologist specializing in Peripheral Vascular Medicine at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Call us at 8716-3901 to 20 to schedule an appointment or visit ollh-manila.com for more information.