Treatments for Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

by Cynthia M. Johnson, MA

Main Page

Risk Factors

Symptoms

Diagnosis

Treatment

Screening

Reducing Your Risk

Talking to Your Doctor

Living With PAD

Resource Guide

The goals of treating PAD are to ease any health problems you have now and to slow the disease.

Treatment will depend on how you are feeling. You may only need to make lifestyle changes to lower factors that lead to the disease. Or you may need drugs to help blood flow and lower the risk of blood vessel disease. Some people may need surgery.

Health problems that lead to PAD will also need to be treated.

You will have a health care team that is made up of doctors, surgeons, nurses, pharmacists, and others. Keep in touch with your medical team, follow treatment, and go to your appointments.

You may need:

Lifestyle changes

Medications

Alternative and complementary therapies

Surgery

REFERENCES:

Hills AJ, Shalhoub J, et al. Peripheral arterial disease. Br J Hosp Med (Lond). 2009;70(10):560-565.

How is peripheral arterial disease treated? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute website. Available at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/pad/treatment.html. Updated Accessed November 16, 2015. Accessed June 13, 2016

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) of lower extremities. EBSCO DynaMed Plus website. Available at:http://www.dynamed.com/topics/dmp~AN~T114200/Peripheral-arterial-disease-PAD-of-lower-extremities. Updated August 23, 2018. Accessed August 29, 2018.

Prevention and treatment of PAD. American Heart Association website. Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/More/PeripheralArteryDisease/Prevention-and-Treatment-of-PAD_UCM_301308_Article.jsp. Updated October 31, 2016. Accessed August 30, 2018.

Last reviewed May 2018 by EBSCO Medical Review Board Daniel A. Ostrovsky, MD Last Updated: 8/29/2018

EBSCO Information Services is fully accredited by URAC. URAC is an independent, nonprofit health care accrediting organization dedicated to promoting health care quality through accreditation, certification and commendation.

This content is reviewed regularly and is updated when new and relevant evidence is made available. This information is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with questions regarding a medical condition.

To send comments or feedback to our Editorial Team regarding the content please email us at healthlibrarysupport@ebsco.com. Our Health Library Support team will respond to your email request within 2 business days.