Lifestyle changesBack to top

Many physicians will put their patients on conservative management, meaning they ask their patients to make lifestyle changes to slow the progression of PAD. Those lifestyle changes include:

• Supervised exercise programs
• Smoking cessation
• Controlled cholesterol levels
• Controlled blood pressure levels

Drug therapyBack to top

Some patients will need drug therapy in combination with lifestyle changes to treat PAD. Drug therapies include:

• Medications, including aspirin, that help prevent the formation of blood cells that promote clotting
• Medications that lower cholesterol levels
• ACE inhibitors, a group of drugs used to treat high blood pressure by blocking a specific enzyme that retains salt in the kidney and can cause heart and blood pressure problems

In a minority of patients, lifestyle modifications are not enough to prevent PAD progression. For these patients, angioplasty, stenting or surgery may be warranted.

AngioplastyBack to top

Angioplasty is a nonsurgical procedure that widens narrowed or blocked peripheral arteries. A catheter with a deflated balloon is inserted into the narrowed artery segment. The balloon is inflated to force open the artery, and the catheter is deflated and withdrawn.

Stenting

In other cases, a stent—a metal device that acts like a scaffold—is placed in the narrowed artery with the catheter. The stent expands and stays in place to help keep the artery open after the catheter is withdrawn.

SurgeryBack to top

Surgery typically is reserved for those whose anatomy is not appropriate for nonsurgical repair through angioplasty and for whom lifestyle changes don't work. This kind of surgery, also known as bypass surgery, involves sewing a vein from another part of the body or a fabricated blood vessel above and below the blocked area to detour blood flow around the blockage. Surgery can be a risk for patients who suffer from other disorders such as high blood pressure or diabetes.