Peripheral arterial disease (patient information)

Peripheral arterial disease
Overview
What are the symptoms?
What are the causes?
Who is at highest risk?
Diagnosis
When to seek urgent medical care?
Treatment options
Where to find medical care for Peripheral arterial disease?
Prevention
What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?
Possible complications
Peripheral arterial disease On the Web
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Raviteja Guddeti, M.B.B.S. [2]

Overview

Peripheral artery disease is a condition of the blood vessels that leads to narrowing and hardening of the arteries that supply the legs and feet.

The narrowing of the blood vessels leads to decreased blood flow, which can injure nerves and other tissues.

What are the symptoms of Peripheral arterial disease?

The classic symptoms are pain, achiness, fatigue, burning, or discomfort in the muscles of your feet, calves, or thighs. These symptoms usually appear during walking or exercise and go away after several minutes of rest.

• At first, these symptoms may appear only when you walk uphill, walk faster, or walk for longer distances.
• Slowly, these symptoms come on more quickly and with less exercise.
• Your legs or feet may feel numb when you are at rest. The legs also may feel cool to the touch, and the skin may look pale.

When peripheral artery disease becomes severe, you may have:

• Impotence
• Pain and cramps at night
• Pain or tingling in the feet or toes, which can be so severe that even the weight of clothes or bed sheets is painful
• Pain that is worse when you raise the leg and improves when you dangle your legs over the side of the bed
• Skin that looks dark and blue
• Sores that do not heal

What causes Peripheral arterial disease?

Peripheral artery disease is caused by arteriosclerosis, or "hardening of the arteries." This problem occurs when fatty material (plaque) builds up on the walls of your arteries. This causes the arteries to become narrower. The walls of the arteries also become stiffer and cannot widen (dilate) to allow greater blood flow when needed.

As a result, when the muscles of your legs are working harder (such as during exercise or walking) they cannot get enough blood and oxygen. Eventually, there may not be enough blood and oxygen, even when the muscles are resting.

Peripheral artery disease is a common disorder that usually affects men over age 50.

Who is at highest risk?

People are at higher risk if they have a history of:

• Abnormal cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Heart disease (coronary artery disease)
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Kidney disease involving hemodialysis
• Smoking
• Stroke (cerebrovascular disease)