| General Illness Information |
Common
Name: |
Claudication |
|
Medical
Term:
|
Claudication |
| Description: |
Muscle fatigue and pain in an
extremity, after a period of minimal exertion. Resting
the extremity always relieves this. Repeating a similar
exercise can reproduce the pain.
It is more common in the lower
extremity.
|
| Causes: |
Blockage of an artery in the
affected area.
|
| Prevention: |
|
 |
Stop smoking. |
|
Lose weight , if
obese. |
|
Routine exercise
program. |
|
Minimize the amount of saturated
fats in the diet. |
|
Reduction of cholesterol
levels. |
| Diagnosis & Treatment |
|
Diminished or absent
pulse.
Reduced blood
pressure at the ankle- usually the pressure at
the ankle is 90% of the pressure at the arm flow
but with severe narrowing it may be less than
50%.
Diagnosis can be
confirmed by tests, such as Doppler ultrasound,
color Doppler and angiography.
Color Doppler is a more sophisticated
ultrasound technique producing a picture of the
artery, showing different flow rates in
different colors. This test is used much more
frequently than angiography because it does not
require an injection of radio-opaque dye.
|
|
| General
Measures: |
|
Stop
Smoking |
|
Control
Hyperlipidemia |
|
Start a walking and
exercise program. |
|
Surgery: |
|
Surgical treatment
with bypass of the obstructed area may be the
treatment of choice in selected
cases. |
|
| Medications: |
|
Low doses of aspirin
may be prescribed. Other medications are:
Ticlopidine, Trental. |
|
Special medication
to increase blood flow may be prescribed, such
as calcium channel blockers. |
|
Cholesterol lowering
medication in patients with elevated
cholesterol. |
|
| Activity: |
|
Daily exercise program. Walking as much as possible (up to 4-5 miles a day), resting if pain or discomfort occurs, and then walk again. Walk on level ground. Keep a log of progress in walking distances. |
|
Other daily activities performed as normal. |
|
| Prognosis |
|
With surgery, the prognosis is good. Surgery is only possible for large vessels, and may be contra-indicated with other serious illnesses.
With medications, disease progression may be slowed.
A number of cases do not respond to treatment, and there is usually slow progression to tissue necrosis and gangrene.
|
|
| Other |
|
|