What is PAD? Well it stands for peripheral arterial disease. The periphery means you arms and legs (limbs). It is a circulation problem in narrowed arteries which are diseased creating a reduction in blood flow to the limbs. Some people are more prone to disease within their arteries if they are diabetics, smoke, have certain connective tissue disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Decreased blood flow causes pain while walking which is referred to as claudication or if advanced pain at rest. This becomes a vicious cycle as it limits your quality of life and may cause ulcers on the skin, tissue loss or even gangrene (results in amputation). The good news is as an interventional radiologist we have the ability to go into the artery in the groin or arm and open up the arteries with balloons, stents and certain medications while watching every step of the way on a TV screen. Often you can go home that day with incision or significant downtime versus the surgical route. If you have a blockage due to calcified plaque (fatty deposits) we can perform a thrombectomy ( suction of the plaque outside the body). We also can open up the artery with a balloon or placing a metallic stent which keeps the artery open. Often you will have to alter your lifestyle with keeping your blood sugar under control, quit smoking or trying to stay as healthy as possible with exercise, behavior modification and wise food choices. We also place you on low dose aspirin for the rest of your life and a drug called plavix which prevents those blood cells called platelets from gathering together and loitering in your blood vessels.
Symptoms:
Pain with walking
Cramping in leg or arm muscles
Leg numbness or weakness
Cold lower leg or foot
Hair loss or slow hair growth on legs
Shiny skin
Erectile dysfunction in men
Change in the color of your legs
Sores than won't heal or are slow to heal
