Menu
Menu
Peripheral Arterial Disease, also known as PAD, or Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD), is a common condition that affects up to 25% of Americans, typically aged 65 and older. It can occur in younger patients who have diabetes. Other risk factors include obesity, high blood pressure, poor diet, smoking and chronic kidney disease. It affects the arteries supplying blood from the heart to the farthest parts of the body, particularly the legs.
Plaque that causes PAD can build up for several reasons, including:
Patients with a history of atherosclerosis in their family are more likely to develop PAD.
Yes, PAD is a serious condition. Clogged arteries cause decreased blood flow to the legs, which can result in pain when walking. If left untreated, plaque can form clots that block blood flow altogether. This stage of the disease causes critical limb ischemia (CLI) with leg pain that is severe enough to wake patients up at night.
Severe peripheral arterial disease can lead to foot sores or wounds on feet that do not heal. The condition can eventually even lead to gangrene and foot or leg amputation. Gangrene is dead tissue that must be removed quickly, or patients could lose a leg.
PAD can damage tissues and nerves in the legs and increase risk factors for stroke and heart attack. Without treatment, peripheral arterial disease can be fatal.
In many cases people do not know they have PAD until they develop complications. Patients are not immediately aware of the condition as it often does not show apparent symptoms.
When symptoms do start, the first is likely to be claudication—pain and cramps in the hips, thighs, or calves when patients walk or climb up stairs. Other PAD symptoms include: