Peripheral artery disease (PAD), or arterial blockage in the leg, is a condition where blood flow to the leg is restricted. It’s similar to what happens when arteries in the heart become blocked, causing a halt in blood flow.
When should you visit a vascular surgeon?
The onset of arterial blockage occurs gradually, and sometimes patients may not experience any symptoms in the early stages of the disease. However, reduced blood circulation to the legs can lead to several symptoms that serve as warning signs of vascular problems. Therefore, you should seek medical attention in the following cases:
– Pain in the legs while walking that worsens over time.
– Extreme difficulty in climbing stairs.
– Leg muscle cramps.
– Pain experienced during activity that subsides with rest.
– Varied intensity of pain, ranging from mild to severe, causing intermittent claudication and difficulty walking.
– Wounds on the toes or other injuries that do not heal.
– Toes appearing blue or black.
– Recurrent injuries and infections.
– Interrupted sleep due to pain.
It’s important to emphasize the significance of visiting a doctor and not ignoring any symptoms experienced by the patient. Early diagnosis greatly contributes to better treatment and significant improvement in the condition. It also helps prevent complications of peripheral artery disease, such as dry or wet gangrene due to complete tissue death, which may unfortunately lead to the necessity of leg amputation.
Peripheral artery disease is diagnosed through the following procedures:
The decision to implant the stent is made by Dr. Hossam El Mahdy, a professor of vascular surgery and treatment of arterial occlusion at Cairo University, after carefully studying the case. The patient may need to have more than one stent installed depending on the severity of the occlusion. Typically, medical stents are made of metal or plastic and can be described as small mesh tubes.
In the past, dealing with cases of arterial occlusion in the legs was painful because the only way to treat them was through open vascular surgery, which relied on either removing the inner lining of the artery to clean it directly or redirecting blood flow beyond the occlusion by using another artery or a synthetic one.
However, there were multiple complications and disadvantages associated with resorting to open vascular surgery, including:
– Quitting smoking.
– Regular physical exercise.
– Consuming healthy foods and avoiding fatty foods that raise cholesterol levels in the blood.
– Losing excess weight.
– Managing emotions and negative feelings and practicing relaxation exercises such as yoga.
