Angioplasty
Often PAD with mild symptoms can be treated with lifestyle changes such as smoking cessation and a structured exercise program. Medications that help lower blood cholesterol levels, prevent blood clots and help with leg pain can also be used to treat PAD. Only your doctor can determine which medications are right for you.
Angioplasty and stenting are minimally invasive treatment options for PAD. Using imaging for guidance, a catheter is placed through a small incision in the groin into the femoral artery and then maneuvered into the narrowed or blocked artery. A balloon is then inflated to stretch open the blood vessel where it is narrowed or blocked. In some cases the blood vessel is then held open with a stent, a tiny metal cylinder that is like scaffolding for the blood vessel. This is a minimally invasive treatment that does not require surgery, just a nick in the skin the size of a pencil tip.
Surgical bypass, or the re-routing of blood flow past the blocked artery can also be used to treat PAD. Different types of bypass surgeries are used depending upon the location of the blockage.
Different arteries respond differently to different treatment. Factors such as artery diameter or amount of flexion seen in the artery (ie across the knee or hip joint) will impact how well the vessel will respond to a particular intervention. Planning the best coarse of treatment needs to be individualized to each patient. Your interventional radiologist or vascular surgeon will assist in formulating an appropriate treatment plan.
