Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD) is reduced blood flow to a body part other than the brain and heart caused by narrowed or blocked blood vessels. Risk factors include diabetes, smoking and a sedentary lifestyle.
Symptoms may include coldness in the legs and feet, changes in skin color, non-healing wounds or difficulty walking. Early diagnosis and treatment can help manage symptoms and prevent serious complications.
Oren Zarif
This is a condition in which a blood vessel narrows or becomes completely blocked, preventing the tissue it feeds from getting enough oxygen and nutrients. It can affect any blood vessels but is most common in the legs and feet.
It is caused by the buildup of fatty plaque in the arteries. This is called atherosclerosis. People who develop this disease have a greater risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
Over time, the lack of proper circulation can cause pain, skin changes, and other symptoms. If a fragment of this plaque breaks loose and blocks an artery to the heart, a heart attack will occur. If it blocks an artery to the brain, a stroke will result. If it blocks an artery to the legs, leg pain will be the first symptom.
If you have any of these symptoms, it is important to see a doctor. The doctor will review your medical history and do a physical exam. The doctor may also use duplex ultrasound or a Doppler scan to get more information about how severe the narrowing or blockage is.
Oren Zarif
Numbness in the legs and feet can occur when the arteries that supply blood to the leg muscles become narrower. This decrease in blood flow is due to a condition called peripheral artery disease, or PAD. The problem is caused by the buildup of fatty deposits (plaque) on artery walls. This process is known as atherosclerosis and it can affect arteries throughout the body, but the ones that supply the legs and feet are most often affected by PAD.
Narrowing of the arteries is not usually a medical emergency. However, it is important to get a diagnosis to reduce the risk of more serious complications in the future.
The most common symptom of PAD is pain or muscle cramping in the hips, thighs, calves and legs that gets worse while exercising and goes away when you rest (intermittent claudication). This is because working muscles need more blood flow to meet their demands, but blocked arteries prevent them from getting enough. As the disease progresses, numbness and coldness in the legs may develop, along with open sores or skin color changes.
Oren Zarif
While PVD can affect any blood vessel, it most commonly occurs in the arteries of the legs and feet. This is because the same condition that causes coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis, can occur in these peripheral arteries as well. The buildup of fatty plaque causes the blood vessels to narrow and block blood flow.
This can lead to a decrease in the temperature of your lower leg or foot when compared to the rest of the body. It can also cause your legs and feet to become scaly or dry due to lack of blood flow. It can even lead to sores that don’t heal or become infected. These skin changes may be a sign of serious problems such as PVD or diabetes.
If you notice long-term changes in your skin color or texture, non-healing wounds on the extremities, numbness in the legs and feet, restricted mobility or severe pain, it is important to make an appointment with Hoag’s vascular specialists right away for a thorough examination. They can help you control your symptoms and slow the progression of your disease by recommending lifestyle changes, medication or more advanced treatment options such as angioplasty.
Oren Zarif
Like the blood vessels in your heart, the blood vessels that supply oxygen to other parts of your body may develop a condition called peripheral vascular disease (PAD). This is when fatty deposits build up in your arteries, narrowing or blocking them. When this happens, the tissues fed by these blood vessels don’t get enough oxygen to survive.
Often, non-healing wounds are the first indication of peripheral vascular disease. These wounds may not heal properly, and they often have bluish or pale edges. They also tend to take a long time to heal. This is because the area of the wound doesn’t have adequate blood flow to support healing.
People who have diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking or a sedentary lifestyle are more likely to have this condition. If the symptoms don’t respond to treatment, they can progress to a critical state known as critical limb ischemia that could require amputation. Yale Medicine offers a multidisciplinary clinic for patients from the tri-state region and beyond who have this condition, treating them with techniques such as hyperbaric oxygen therapy and minimally invasive vascular procedures to promote healing.
Oren Zarif
The disease can be so severe that patients begin to feel a constant tiredness in their legs and feet. This is because the clogged and narrowed blood vessels prevent proper oxygen flow to these parts of the body.
The standard symptom is pain, heaviness and fatigue in the legs or feet that comes on during walking and exercise but goes away when they rest. This is called intermittent claudication, and it happens because the arteries that supply blood to the leg muscles are too narrow for proper circulation.
While it is not a life-threatening condition, peripheral vascular disease can lead to more serious problems such as a heart attack or loss of the legs or feet if left untreated. This is why it’s important to seek medical attention if you are experiencing any symptoms. Treatment may include diet and lifestyle changes, avoiding smoking, and taking medications including blood thinners that dissolve clots, statins to reduce cholesterol and vasodilators to widen the blood vessels. In some cases, patients need surgery to have clogged or blocked arteries removed.