Peripheral artery disease (PAD) refers to a narrowing of the arteries resulting in reduced blood flow from the heart to the legs. With as many as 12 million people in the U.S. living with PAD, the condition can be managed if diagnosed and treated by a heart and vascular expert during its early stages. Speak with a Bayhealth expert about PAD.
What is PAD?
PAD occurs when plaque, which is made up of fat and cholesterol, builds up in the arteries of the legs. This blockage (atherosclerosis) can result in the following complications.
- blood clots
- reduced blood flow to vital organs
- tissue damage in the legs and feet
Lacking proper treatment, these complications can lead to life-threatening issues, such as strokes, heart attacks and gangrene. Severe cases result in amputation.
Signs and Symptoms
Although clear symptoms of PAD aren’t always present during the early stages of the condition, the following signs may appear over time.
- Claudication: A painful sensation that originates in your legs during exercise and goes away when you’re lying down, claudication is caused by a lack of oxygen in your legs.
- Sores: When the legs and feet aren’t receiving enough oxygen, non-healing sores can form in the area. If not properly treated, these sores can become dead tissue.
- Other Skin Changes: Signs of PAD also include changes in skin color (particularly redness), coldness in your feet, and frequent skin and soft-tissue infections.
Symptoms of PAD can be similar to other heart and vascular conditions. Learn about comparable conditions, such as peripheral vascular disease (PVD).
Risk Factors and Prevention
While exact causes of PAD vary from patient to patient, the following factors can increase the risk that you will develop the condition at some point in your life.
- Advanced Age: People 50 years and older are at greater risk for developing PAD.
- Atherosclerosis: Because both conditions are characterized by buildups of plaque in the blood vessels, if you’ve had atherosclerosis elsewhere in your body, you may be at risk for developing PAD. Learn more about atherosclerosis.
- Blood Pressure: Having high blood pressure (hypertension) may increase your risk for developing PAD. Consider methods to lower your blood pressure.
- Family History: A family history of heart disease can increase the risk that you will develop PAD at some point in your life.
- High Cholesterol: PAD is more likely to occur in people with high cholesterol. Consider adopting a heart-healthy diet that includes fruits, vegetables and high-fiber foods.
- Tobacco Use: Smoking tobacco products quadruples the risk of developing PAD later in life. In fact, roughly 80% of people with PAD have a history of tobacco use. Smoking while having PAD greatly increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and amputation.
- Obesity: People whose body weight exceeds the average are at greater risk for PAD.
How We Diagnose PAD
Our heart and vascular experts use the following procedures to diagnose PAD.
- Blood Test: A blood test may reveal signs of PAD, including high levels of cholesterol and blood sugar.
- Electrocardiogram (EKG): Electrical pulses generated by your heart are measured and evaluated to determine if any abnormalities or unusual conditions are present.
- Ultrasound: High-energy sound waves are bounced off your internal tissues and organs, creating a detailed image (sonogram) of your abdomen.
- Angiogram: A contrast dye is injected into your bloodstream, which makes your arteries and veins visible during X-ray image scans.
- Catheterization: After injecting liquid dye into one of your arteries, our experts take a series of rapid X-rays, creating a motion video of your blood vessels.
- Magnetic Resonance Angiogram (MRA): Radio wave technology combined with a magnetic field creates images of your blood vessels.
- Computerized Tomography (CT): X-ray signals of the body are processed by a computer in narrow “slices,” ensuring image accuracy.
Learn more about our diagnostic procedures.
Treatment Options
While early stages of PAD can be managed through lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise, more advanced cases may require one or more of the following treatment approaches.
- Drug Treatment: Heart and vascular experts prescribe medications to reduce the level of cholesterol in your blood.
- Angioplasty: During this minimally invasive procedure, experts eliminate the blockage by using a narrow tube (called a catheter) to inflate a balloon inside your artery. This displaces the cholesterol and returns blood flow to normal.
- Atherectomy: This minimally invasive procedure removes the blockage from your artery, restoring blood flow back to normal.
- Stent: Typically used after an angioplasty, a stent (which resembles a mesh tube) is inserted into the artery to support or hold it open.
- Transcarotid Artery Revascularization (TCAR): A surgeon makes a small incision in the neck and installs a device to reverse blood flow. A stent is then placed inside the artery, allowing the device to capture plaque. Learn more about TCAR.
- Bypass Surgery: A surgeon redirects your blood flow, bypassing the blocked areas.
Explore more procedures offered by Bayhealth’s heart and vascular team, or schedule an appointment to speak with one of our experts.