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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffTreatment of claudication and peripheral artery disease can help prevent your disease from getting worse and reduce your symptoms. Lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking and participating in a regular exercise regimen, are often the first steps in treating claudication.
If your claudication symptoms don't improve after adopting a healthier lifestyle, your doctor may suggest other treatment options, including:
- Medications. Your doctor might recommend you take aspirin to reduce the chance of blood clots. He or she might also prescribe other medications that help keep your blood from clotting, such as clopidogrel (Plavix), dipyridamole (Persantine) and ticlopidine. The medication cilostazol (Pletal) may help improve blood flow and reduce your symptoms. If you can't take cilostazol, or if it doesn't improve your symptoms, your doctor may recommend that you try pentoxifylline (Trental). Additionally, if necessary, your doctor will also prescribe a cholesterol-lowering drug (statin) to lower your cholesterol.
- Angioplasty. Cases of claudication and peripheral artery disease that are more serious may require angioplasty. This is a procedure that widens damaged arteries using a narrow tube that travels through your blood vessels and has an inflatable balloon on the end that can help improve circulation. A stent is often implanted at the same time to keep the artery propped open. Once an artery is open, your doctor may place a small metal or plastic mesh tube (stent) in the artery to keep it open.
- Vascular surgery. Your doctor may recommend surgery that takes a healthy blood vessel from another part of your body to replace the vessel that's causing your claudication. This allows blood to flow around the blocked or narrowed artery.
Your doctor may also suggest a combination of treatments, such as medications and angioplasty.
References
- Mohler ER. Clinical features, diagnosis, and natural history of lower extremity peripheral arterial disease. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 18, 2011.
- Peripheral artery disease. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/cardiovascular_disorders/peripheral_arterial_disorders/peripheral_arterial_disease.html. Accessed Nov. 18, 2011.
- White C. Intermittent claudication. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;356:1241.
- Rooke TW, et al. 2011 ACCF/AHA focused update of the guideline for the management of patients with peripheral artery disease (updating the 2005 guideline). Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2011;58:2020.
- Rudisill HM, et al. Effective therapies for intermittent claudication. American Family Physician. 2011;84:699.
- Vodnala D, et al. Medical management of the patient with intermittent claudication. Cardiology Clinics. 2011;39:363.
- Ahimastos AA, et al. A meta-analysis of the outcome of endovascular and noninvasive therapies in the treatment of intermittent claudication. Journal of Vascular Surgery. 2011;54:1511.
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