Peripheral Arterial Disease Specialist

What is peripheral arterial disease?

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a common circulatory condition in which the arteries that lead to your arms and legs become narrow or clogged, interfering with normal blood flow to your extremities. 

In some cases, you may feel pain or discomfort in your legs, but many times, you won’t have any symptoms at all. 

PAD can also be a sign of atherosclerosis, a condition in which you have an accumulation of fatty deposits in your arteries and can be a precursor to serious cardiovascular events like heart attack and stroke.

What are the symptoms of peripheral arterial disease?

The most common symptom of peripheral arterial disease is leg pain (claudication) when you’re walking, and it often improves with rest. Claudication is a sign that the blood flow to your legs isn’t able to keep up with the demand during activity. Other symptoms of PAD include:

• Leg pain during activities but not when you stop activities
• Numbness, coldness, or tingling in lower legs and feet
• Ulcers or sores that don’t heal on your legs or feet
• Erectile dysfunction (men)
• Leg pain that awakens you
• Slow-growing leg hair or toenails
• Weak pulse in your legs or feet
• Shiny or discolored leg skin

PAD often goes undiagnosed, and if left untreated, it can lead to gangrene or amputation of a limb. The experienced specialists at ForeFront Radiology take a patient-centered approach to care and have the highest level of commitment to their patients.

How is peripheral arterial disease treated?

Through comprehensive screening and evaluation, the doctors determine the underlying cause of your symptoms and whether they’re a sign of arterial stenosis. 

Your treatment plan may include lifestyle modifications, such as quitting smoking, losing weight, exercising, and getting contributing medical conditions under control.

Additionally, they may recommend interventional treatments like balloon angioplasty, in which they use guided imaging to thread a catheter through an artery in your groin to the blocked artery and inflate a medical “balloon” to open the narrowed blood vessel. 

They may also recommend stenting, where they place a tiny metal cylinder into your blood vessel to keep it open for increased blood flow. 

Another option might be atherectomy, where a small device is used in the process of debulking the plaque buildup that's blocking your arterial blood flow. All of these treatments are minimally invasive and performed as an outpatient procedure.

Learn about state-of-the-art treatment options for PAD by calling the office or scheduling a consultation online.