Exercise Training: With peripheral arterial disease, muscles receive only limited amounts of oxygen due to impaired circulation. This lack of oxygen causes pain while walking called claudication. Over time, intensive exercise training can train muscles to use oxygen more efficiently and to grow new blood vessels; gradually allowing the patient to walk further and with less pain.
Drug Therapy: Certain medications in combination with exercise can improve the discomfort experienced by patients with claudication (pain and cramping that leads to limping). Our board-certified interventional cardiologists coordinate this drug therapy with patients' other medications to avoid side effects.
Percutaneous Revascularization: Compared to surgery, treatment of PAD through catheter techniques, as listed below, allow for treatment of blockages in the legs with fast patient recovery time.
Balloon Angioplasty: In balloon angioplasty, a miniscule balloon attached to a thin tube (catheter) is inserted through the blocked blood vessel. Under X-ray guidance, our interventionalists direct the catheter to the site of the blocked artery, where the balloon inflates, opening the vessel.
Stenting: In many instances where balloon angioplasty is used, the blockage may fail to expand or may return quickly. In these cases, a metal stent is delivered, under X-ray guidance, to the blockage site to act as a scaffold to hold the artery open. There are many types and sizes of stents, which are individually chosen by the interventionalist to fit each specific artery being treated.
Atherectomy: Atherectomy is a minimally invasive procedure that removes plaque and blockage from sites of severe arterial narrowing. Unlike angioplasty and stent placement that push blockages aside, atherectomy involves inserting a thin catheter with a rotating blade or burr to grind away the plaque in the arteries to restore blood flow. The procedure is considered less invasive than endarterectomy, which involves surgical removal of the plaque.
Surgical Revascularization: At times of severe blockage in several leg arteries, balloon angioplasty and stent placement may not sufficiently restore circulation. In such cases, revascularization by surgical bypass is frequently the treatment of choice. The procedure usually involves removing a vein from the patient's leg and using it to route blood flow around the blocked segments of artery.