Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)

Peripheral arterial disease also known as (PAD) is a disorder that coexists with a vascular disease that is found in other parts of the body. PAD is the thinning of the peripheral arteries of the stomach, head, arms and legs. Not to mention, PAD is comparable to Coronary artery disease (CAD) and symptoms include pain or cramping in the lower extremities, tiredness in the legs or muscles of the hip and thinning of skin on the legs (Pescatello, 2014). This disease refers to a number of disorders in which the flow of blood through the non-coronary arterial beds are impaired. This type of condition commonly affects the tibial, renal, femoral, iliac and the mesenteric arteries. PAD is predominantly caused by atherosclerosis and is related by the …show more content…
The disease classifications of peripheral artery disease include the stages one through five with number 1 being Asymptomatic 2. Mild claudication 3. Moderate-to severe claudication 4. Ischemic rest pain and number 5 being Ulceration or gangrene. Moreover, knowing the early diagnosis is, quite frankly important for improving the quality of life for the patient and also reducing the risk of serious secondary vascular events. Some risk factors for PAD include obesity, age, hypertension, sedentary lifestyle, dyslipidemia, smoking, hyperhomocysteinemia and diabetes mellitus. On the other hand, PAD is linked with increased risk of additional cardiovascular complications such as a stroke, MI and with it being left untreated may lead to other serious problems such as amputation and gangrene. Treatment for PAD includes weight bearing exercise, risk factor modifications, surgical revascularization, pharmacologic intervention, self-care, and blood …show more content…
Patients with PAD often experience morbidity and mortality and despite the prevalence with the two, only a percent of 25 people are diagnosed with undergoing treatment (Pescatello, 2014). This type of disease is known to be a set of acute or chronic syndromes that are generally consequential from the company of occlusive arterial disease which also causes insufficient blood flow to the limbs. Nevertheless, dealing with the pathophysiological view, ischemia of the lower extremities is classified as critical or functional. Functional ischemia is when the flow of the blood is normal at rest, but inadequate during any type of exercise while Critical ischemia occurs when the reduction of the blood flow results at rest and is well-defined by the attendance of pain. The chronological evolution of the pathophysiological mechanisms which include arterial inadequacy cultivates is based on the appearance of arterial stenosis (Tsai, 2016). The presence of arterial stenosis progresses naturally to cause a completion of the artery. Not to mention, the imbalance between the peripheral tissues and the need of blood supply is produced more or less in a high risk plaque. High risk plaques that are found in the arteries of the lower extremities are fibrous and stenosis. In this case, the exposure of the plaque is at its