Brief overview Symptoms: No symptoms for a long time, then mainly pain, possibly pale and cool legs Treatment: Cause treatment, gait training, blood thinning medication, possibly surgery. Causes and risk factors: smoking, calcified arteries as well as high blood pressure, diabetes mellitus, chronically high blood lipid levels, overweight Diagnostics: Medical consultation, physical examination, walking test, … Smoker’s leg: Symptoms & treatment
What is a gangrene? Gangrene comes from the Greek and means “that which eats away”. This name originated from the outward appearance of a gangrene and the partly very fast spreading of it. A gangrene is a tissue necrosis in which the skin dies and then dissolves and changes. In former times gangrene was also … Gangrene
Causes The most common cause of gangrene is a reduced blood supply to tissues far from the body (peripheral), such as feet and fingers, caused by systemic factors. These are mainly diabetes, smoking and diseases of the cardiovascular system. Gangrene of the internal organs is usually caused by a spontaneously occurring inflammation of the respective … Causes | Gangrene
Diagnosis Gangrene is usually a so-called clinical diagnosis. This means that physicians can make the diagnosis after a detailed inspection and physical examination. In most cases a gangrene is even a gaze diagnosis, which means that only a short glance is necessary to make a suspected diagnosis. In addition, a smear of the gangrene is … Diagnosis | Gangrene
Healing time and prognosis The most important principle in the therapy of gangrene is that it can only heal if the cause is eliminated. If this is the case, for example, because a migrated blood clot (embolism) was responsible for it and it was removed, the healing time depends on how far advanced the gangrene … Healing time and prognosis | Gangrene
For many men and women, it often happens after the age of forty that they suddenly have to stop walking because they get a pain in their calves that forces them more and more often to interrupt their chosen path. Usually, during the pain attack, they turn towards a shop window in order not to … Diet and Nutrition for Circulatory Disorders
Definition Peripheral arterial occlusive disease is a disease of the vessels. In pAVK, constriction (stenosis) or occlusion of the aorta or the arteries of the arm and leg, usually chronic, occurs. The arteries of the legs are most frequently affected (~90% of cases). In more than 95% of cases, calcification of the arteries (arteriosclerosis) is … Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (pAVK)
Diagnosis The physician may already suspect peripheral arterial occlusive disease during the conversation with the patient. This suspicion can be confirmed during the physical examination. The physical examination is divided into looking at the skin (skin colour, wounds), feeling the pulses (attenuated/no pulses for peripheral arterial occlusive disease) and checking the skin temperature and sensation … Diagnosis | Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (pAVK)
Localization A subdivision is made regarding the location of the vasoconstriction and is divided into three types: Staging (according to Fontaine-Rachev) Type | Frequency | Location | Pain | Missing pulses Aortoiliac type | 35% | aorta, iliac artery | buttocks, thigh | from the groin Femoral type | 50% | femoral artery (A. femoralis), … Localization | Peripheral arterial occlusive disease (pAVK)
