Peripheral artery disease treatment can help many patients find relief from symptoms and prevent further damage to their arteries. Potential treatments can include lifestyle changes, supervised exercise programs, medication, and/or surgery.
It’s important to understand all of your options and how different types of treatments can benefit you. Find out more here about peripheral artery disease, the different types of treatments, and what questions to ask your doctor.
What Is Peripheral Artery Disease?
Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a condition in which the arteries that carry blood from your heart to other body parts become narrowed or blocked. It’s most common in the legs.
The arteries in your legs bring oxygen-rich blood to your muscles and skin, helping you walk and heal wounds. Atherosclerosis, or the buildup of plaque in your artery walls, can narrow these arteries and restrict blood flow. Plaque may also rupture, leading to a blood clot that further limits or even totally blocks the flow of blood.
More than 8 million Americans over 40 have PAD, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. The risk increases as people age and is higher in people who smoke and/or have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.
PAD can affect your quality of life and lead to serious complications if left untreated. Mild to moderate PAD can cause pain with walking, which may make everyday tasks like climbing stairs or doing household chores difficult.
In more severe cases, a lack of blood flow can cause tissue to die. When tissue dies, it requires removal, sometimes through total amputation.
It’s also important to remember that if you have plaque in the peripheral arteries, you may also have it in other arteries. Blockages in the arteries that bring blood to your heart or brain can lead to life-threatening problems like heart attack and stroke. People with PAD are at an increased risk of these conditions.
Symptoms of Peripheral Artery Disease
Not everyone with PAD will experience symptoms. The most common symptom of PAD is intermittent claudication. This is leg pain or cramping that occurs while walking, climbing stairs, or exercising but goes away when at rest.
Other common PAD symptoms include:
- Cooler skin on one leg or foot.
- Leg weakness or numbness.
- Pale, blue, or discolored feet or legs.
- Pins-and-needles feeling in the legs or feet.
- Slow toenail growth and/or decreased leg hair growth.
- Sores, ulcers, or wounds on the legs or feet that heal slowly or don’t heal at all.
Though mild PAD is not limb-threatening, it’s important to talk to your doctor if you have symptoms so you can begin treatment as soon as possible and prevent further damage to your arteries, help lower your risk for heart attack and stroke, and improve your symptoms.
More severe forms of PAD can become limb-threatening. Patients with severe PAD can develop critical limb-threatening ischemia, which happens when your tissues cannot get enough blood because of a major blockage, causing limb-threatening tissue loss.
Peripheral Artery Disease Treatment Options
Your doctor will develop a peripheral artery disease treatment plan based on your symptoms, the severity of your condition, and your overall health. The goal of treatment is to manage your symptoms and to treat the underlying cause of your PAD.
Lifestyle changes
Lifestyle changes play a big part in PAD treatment and can help you lower your risk of other cardiovascular problems. Some lifestyle changes include:
- Eating healthy — Choosing heart-healthy foods can lower your cholesterol and your PAD risk. Aim for a diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy, and lean proteins. Limit added sugars, saturated and trans fats, and sodium.
- Getting regular physical activity — Exercise is an effective treatment for PAD, helping with risk factors like diabetes, high cholesterol, and obesity. Your provider may recommend a supervised exercise therapy (SET) program. SET specifically targets the areas affected by your condition and can help improve your circulation.
- Managing chronic conditions — Getting treatment for PAD risk factors like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol can lower your risk of complications.
- Quitting smoking — Smoking is the top risk factor for PAD, according to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Quitting smoking can help reduce your PAD symptoms as well as lower your risk of heart attack and stroke.
Medication
Your doctor may prescribe or recommend medications to reduce your PAD symptoms and your risk of complications. Common medications can include:
- Antiplatelet medications — These medicines can help prevent blood clots, which can help keep your arteries from narrowing even more. Examples include aspirin and clopidogrel. An antiplatelet called cilostazol may help reduce your walking problems and other symptoms.
- Blood pressure medications — High blood pressure medications such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) can lower your blood pressure and keep your blood vessels from narrowing.
- Blood thinners (anticoagulants) — These also can reduce your risk of blood clots.
- Statins and other cholesterol-lowering medications — These medicines can lower cholesterol and slow the plaque buildup in your arteries.
Surgery
If your PAD is causing severe symptoms or limb tissue loss, or if medications and lifestyle changes don’t have the desired effect, you may need surgery. Common procedures for PAD include:
- Angioplasty and stenting — This minimally invasive procedure threads a catheter through a small incision to the blocked artery. It opens a tiny balloon inside the artery to remove the blockage and open the artery. The balloon may have a coating of medication to help the artery heal. Your surgeon may also place a stent, a small mesh tube, inside the artery to reduce the risk of future blockages.
- Bypass surgery — In arterial bypass surgery, a vascular surgeon uses a portion of a blood vessel from a different area of your body to redirect blood flow around the blocked artery. Bypass surgery can become necessary for severe blockages to preserve a limb.
What Should I Ask My Doctor?
If your doctor has diagnosed you with PAD, it’s important for you to understand your condition and your options for treatment. Some questions to ask your doctor, even if they might seem simple, include:
- What is my diagnosis?
- How severe is my PAD?
- What are all of my options for treatment?
- How will I know if the treatment is working?
- Do I need medication? If so, are there side effects?
- Do I need a procedure or surgery? If so, how long will I need to stay in the hospital?
- What lifestyle changes do you recommend?
The UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute (HVI) is a national leader in treating cardiovascular conditions. Our team works together to provide comprehensive, individualized care. Visit our website to find a location near you.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on , and was last reviewed on .