How Common is it for Patients to Have Non-Healing Foot Wounds or Leg Pain with PAD

Dr. Rundback explains how common it is for patients to have non-healing foot wounds or leg pain with PAD. Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), is atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries that affects the leg arteries. Many people are familiar with atherosclerosis occurring in the heart arteries, which would cause coronary artery disease and heart attacks, or the neck arteries, which would cause a stroke. When that same blockage affects the leg arteries, it’s called Peripheral Artery Disease. Certainly, you may have some blockage and it’s asymptomatic. You may not know it, but it’s important to find that out because it’s a marker of potential cardiac risk. If you have a blockage at one level, you may have it in others, needing the appropriate medical management and evaluation for potentially acute or unrecognized coronary artery disease. However, as the blockages in your legs progress, you get a series of symptoms. The first symptom is called claudication, named after the Roman emperor Claudius who had a limp. Claudication is when the blockage is such that you have insufficient blood flow when you exercise. You are fine when you’re lying around and your muscles don’t demand much blood flow, but there is insufficient blood flow when you exercise. Additionally, you may experience pain every time you start to move as your muscles demand more oxygen, more blood flow, and are relieved with rest as that demand decreases. Learn more at https://americanendovascular.com/how-common-is-it-for-patients-to-have-non-healing-foot-wounds-or-leg-pain-with-pad/ Schedule your consultation today at 1-833-PAD-EXPERT (1-833-723-3973)