Intermittent Claudication

Overview

Intermittent claudication is a symptom mainly caused by Peripheral Arterial Disease. The definition of claudication is a muscle pain usually after exercise due to the accumulation of lactic acid due to inadequate blood flow. The distance that the patient covers until the occurrence of pain is known as claudication distance. The lower the claudication distance, the severe the condition is. Other symptoms, which can predict the severity, are looking for a sign of chronic ischemia such as loss of hair, loss of subcutaneous fat, atrophic unhealthy skin, tropical changes like skin ulcer, brittle nail and dry gangrene. Some of the investigations, which can be done to diagnose the condition, is by doing ankle-brachial index, ultrasound of the artery and other imaging tests such as magnetic resonance angiography and computed tomography angiography. Management is with lifestyle modification and surgical therapy.