At early stages of atherosclerotic arterial disease of lower extremities the person’s complaints are limited to chills, cramps in legs, rapid fatigability during walking, requiring rest breaks, numbness of toes that may be mistakenly attributed to wearing uncomfortable shoes.
HOW CAN THE STAGE OF ATHEROSCLEROTIC ARTERIAL DISEASE OF LEGS BE DETERMINED?
- Stage I — pain in legs only under significant physical load (when walking a distance greater than 1 km);
- Stage II — pain when walking a distance of less than 200 m;
- Stage III — pain when walking a distance of 25 m or pain at rest;
- Stage IV — development of trophic ulcers and gangrene of lower limbs.
WHAT DOCTOR SHOULD YOU CONSULT?
If you have the above-mentioned disease symptoms, you should timely seek medical advice of vascular surgeon or surgeon at the ambulatory clinic.
When atherosclerosis of lower extremities is suspected, your doctor may perform following investigations:
- measure your pulse;
- determine your ankle-brachial index (ABI is the ratio of the blood pressure at the ankle to the blood pressure in the arm);
- carry out tests with physical load in order to determine the pain-free walking distance and absolute walking distance;
- refer you to instrumental examinations – ultrasound scan of lower extremity arteries.