Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)

What is peripheral arterial disease?

Your arteries carry nutrient and oxygen-rich blood from your heart to the rest of your body. When these arteries become narrowed or blocked, it’s difficult for blood to smoothly flow through your extremities, particularly the legs. 

This condition is commonly referred to as peripheral arterial disease, or PAD. As the condition worsens, PAD often leads to pain in the hips, buttocks, thighs, legs, and feet. Without early intervention, PAD puts you at a greater risk of serious health problems, including heart attack, stroke, and even limb loss.

What are the symptoms of peripheral arterial disease?

Many patients never notice any warning signs of the condition, however, there are plenty of PAD symptoms to watch out for:

• Leg cramps
• Color changes in the legs
• Coldness in the legs or feet
• Limb numbness
• Slow growing toenails
• Hair loss on the legs or feet
• Erectile dysfunction
• Shiny leg skin

The above PAD symptoms often indicate that your legs aren’t receiving enough blood flow. In severe cases, your toes and feet can even develop painful sores.

What causes peripheral arterial disease?

PAD is most often caused by atherosclerosis, a buildup of fatty deposits in your artery walls. These fatty deposits, or plaques, block blood flow and slow down circulation in your extremities. 

There are many PAD risk factors that raise your chances of developing this dangerous condition, such as:

• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Family history of circulatory issues, stroke, or heart disease
• Being over 50
• High blood pressure
• Obesity
• High cholesterol

Smokers are especially prone to PAD, so it’s important to quit smoking to reduce your risk.

How is peripheral arterial disease treated?

The Vascular Institute of New York is the only practice in the United States that has developed balloon angioplasties of blocked arteries in the legs without toxic radiation or contrast. The team instead relies solely on ultrasound guidance to perform this minimally invasive alternative to open surgery.

During an angioplasty, your physician inserts a catheter — a thin flexible tube — into an artery in your arm or groin. Once inside, a balloon attached to the catheter inflates and deflates several times to push the blockage against the artery walls to widen the vessel and release the blockage. This allows blood to move more freely through your artery.

Other PAD treatments include lifestyle changes, walking exercises, medication, surgery, and even amputation in extreme cases.

PAD is a serious condition that can limit your mobility when left untreated. To schedule an appointment with PAD experts, call the Vascular Institute of New York or book one online.