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Peripheral artery disease and intermittent claudication - Symptoms

Description

An in-depth report on the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of peripheral artery disease (PAD).

Alternative Names

Peripheral arterial disease; PAD; Peripheral vascular disease;

Symptoms:

People with peripheral artery disease (PAD) may or may not have symptoms. Because of silent symptoms, many cases of PAD go undiagnosed.

Intermittent Claudication

Claudication comes from the Latin word "to limp." Claudication is crampy leg pain that occurs during exercise, especially walking. The pain is due to insufficient blood flow in the legs (caused by blocked arteries). Intermittent means the pain comes and goes. Intermittent claudication is the most prominent symptom of PAD. About a third to a half of patients with PAD have this symptom.

Symptoms may be felt as pain, achiness, a sense of fatigue, or nonspecific discomfort that occurs with exercise. Symptoms should go away only with rest, within several minutes. Symptoms may only initially be present when walking uphill, walking faster, or walking for longer distances.

Because the most frequently affected artery in intermittent claudication is the popliteal artery, symptoms are most common in the calf muscles. This artery leads off from the femoral artery (the major artery in the thigh). It continues below the knee where it branches off and carries blood to the muscles in the calf and foot. Talk to your doctor about any leg or thigh pain you have.

Leg pain occurs in one leg in 40% of patients and in both legs in 60% of patients. Patients may also have fatigue or pain in the thighs and buttocks.

There is also some evidence that people with PAD have blood cells that are prone to forming clots.

Advanced Peripheral Artery Disease (Ischemic Rest Pain)

In advanced cases, the arteries are so blocked that even rest does not help. Leg pain that continues when lying down is called ischemic rest pain. Ischemia is the medical term for insufficient blood flow to tissues.

Typical symptoms may include:

Pain or tingling in the foot or toes, which may be so severe that even the weight of clothes or bed sheets cause or worsen the discomfort
Pain worsens when leg is elevated and improves by dangling legs over the side of the bed

People with ischemic rest pain are at risk for ulcers and gangrene. In severe cases, amputation may be required.

Other signs of advanced PAD can include:

Calf muscles that shrink (wither)
Hair loss over the toes and feet
Thick toenails
Shiny, tight skin
Painful non-bleeding ulcers on the feet or toes (usually black) that are slow to heal

Sometimes, blood clots form in the arteries in the legs, producing abrupt symptoms.

Resources

www.padcoalition.org -- Peripheral Arterial Disease Coalition
www.nhlbi.nih.gov -- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
www.americanheart.org -- American Heart Association
www.acc.org -- American College of Cardiology
www.diabetes.org -- American Diabetes Association
www.vdf.org -- Vascular Disease Foundation
www.sirweb.org -- Society of Interventional Radiology

References

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Arain FA, Cooper LT Jr. Peripheral arterial disease: diagnosis and management. Mayo Clin Proc. 2008 Aug;83(8):944-49; quiz 949-50.

Aung PP, Maxwell HG, Jepson RG, Price JF, Leng GC. Lipid-lowering for peripheral arterial disease of the lower limb. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2007 Oct 17;(4):CD000123.

Collins R, Burch J, Cranny G, Aguiar-Ibáñez R, Craig D, Wright K, et al. Duplex ultrasonography, magnetic resonance angiography, and computed tomography angiography for diagnosis and assessment of symptomatic, lower limb peripheral arterial disease: systematic review. BMJ. 2007 Jun 16;334(7606):1257. Epub 2007 Jun 4

Creager MA and Libby P. Peripheral arterial disease. In: Libby P, Bonow RO, Mann DL, Zipes DP, eds. Libby: Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Saunders; 2007:chap 57.

Garg PK, Tian L, Criqui MH, Liu K, Ferrucci L, Guralnik JM, et al. Physical activity during daily life and mortality in patients with peripheral arterial disease. Circulation. 2006 Jul 18;114(3):242-8.

Kikano GE, Brown MT. Antiplatelet therapy for atherothrombotic disease: an update for the primary care physician. Mayo Clin Proc. 2007 May;82(5):583-93.

McDermott MM, Ades P, Guralnik JM, Dyer A, Ferrucci L, Liu K, et al. Treadmill exercise and resistance training in patients with peripheral arterial disease with and without intermittent claudication: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2009 Jan 14;301(2):165-74.

Met R, Bipat S, Legemate DA, Reekers JA, Koelemay MJ. Diagnostic performance of computed tomography angiography in peripheral arterial disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA. 2009 Jan 28;301(4):415-24.

Saw J, Bhatt DL, Moliterno DJ, Brener SJ, Steinhubl SR, Lincoff AM, et al. The influence of peripheral arterial disease on outcomes: a pooled analysis of mortality in eight large randomized percutaneous coronary intervention trials. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2006 Oct 17;48(8):1567-72.

Sobel M, Verhaeghe R; American College of Chest Physicians; American College ofChest Physicians. Antithrombotic therapy for peripheral artery occlusive disease: American College of Chest Physicians Evidence-Based Clinical Practice Guidelines (8th Edition). Chest. 2008 Jun;133(6 Suppl):815S-843S.

Steg PG, Bhatt DL, Wilson PWF, D’Agostino R, Ohman EM, Rother, J. One-year cardiovascular event rates in outpatients with atherothrombosis. JAMA. Mar 21 2007;29(11)7:1197-1206.

Warfarin Antiplatelet Vascular Evaluation Trial Investigators, Anand S, Yusuf S, Xie C, Pogue J, Eikelboom J, et al. Oral anticoagulant and antiplatelet therapy and peripheral arterial disease. N Engl J Med. 2007 Jul 19;357(3):217-27.

Reviewed last on: 5/13/2009
Harvey Simon, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.

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