Contents
Symptoms of circulatory disorders of the lower extremities
Poor circulation in the lower extremities means a decrease in blood flow to the extremities due to narrowing or blockage of the arteries. Accompanied by pain during walking, disappearing during a stop. This phenomenon is called intermittent claudication. It can be triggered by various diseases, but always indicates serious problems with the arteries. Therefore, at the first appearance of symptoms, you should consult a doctor and conduct a diagnosis.
The following risk factors for the occurrence of intermittent claudication are known:
– smoking;
– alcohol consumption;
– obesity;
– mature age;
– stress;
– diabetes;
— genetics;
– violation of lipid metabolism.
With intermittent claudication, pain can occur in various parts of the leg: starting from the foot and rising higher to the lower leg, knee, thigh, in some it reaches the lower back. Sometimes symptoms of circulatory disorders are heaviness or weakness in the legs, cramps, numbness, chilliness. In isolated cases, peripheral arterial disease does not give any symptoms at all.
Causes of circulatory disorders
There are many causes of circulatory disorders, but they can be divided into three large groups: damage to the arteries (peripheral sections), vasoconstriction due to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques, inflammation of the artery wall, and spasm of the artery.
The most common causes of such disorders are the following diseases:
Obliterating atherosclerosis of the lower extremities. It affects people of both sexes, of different ages, but more often men after forty. Cholesterol and fat-like substances (lipids) accumulate in the vessel, form sclerotic plaques, which leads to complete or partial blockage of the vessel.
Obliterating endarteritis (thromboangiitis). Chronic autoimmune vascular disease. Blood does not flow in sufficient quantities due to spasmodic thigh vessels. Young people (men) are especially susceptible to this rapidly progressive disease, since bad habits greatly contribute to the development of this disease.
Vascular damage by diabetes mellitus. The most terrible complication is the so-called diabetic foot. Due to insufficient blood circulation in the lower extremities, purulent-necrotic rotting of the leg, gangrene begins, which often leads to amputation.
Varicose veins (or thrombophlebitis). The outflow of blood is disturbed, the walls of blood vessels weaken.
Diagnostics
When making a diagnosis and choosing the most appropriate method of treatment for a doctor, factors such as the cause of the disease (atherosclerosis, endarteritis, etc.), localization (depth of the lesion), type of lesion (complete or partial closure of the vessel), and the degree of damage to the artery are important. For the convenience of diagnosing, arterial insufficiency was divided into stages, depending on the symptoms:
– Stage I (full compensation): fatigue, chilliness of the feet, numbness and tingling, which appears only after physical exertion;
– Stage II (insufficiency during functional loads): intermittent claudication is added to the symptoms of the first stage, forcing the patient to slow down or stop;
– III stage (insufficiency at rest): accompanied by uninterrupted pain or pain at night;
– Stage IV (ulcerative-necrotic changes in the limb): accompanied by ischemic pain, signs of gangrene appear. Patients require narcotic painkillers.
Various methods are used to diagnose circulatory disorders, and the patient only needs to contact a specialist (surgeon), who will conduct an internal examination, palpation, percussion (tapping), auscultation (listening to the work of organs). After that, you will need to pass mandatory studies, such as:
Doppler ultrasound of blood vessels (demonstration in real time of the direction, speed and volume of blood flow);
angiography (contrast x-ray examination of the state of blood vessels and blood flow);
Capillaroscopy (non-invasive method for studying microcirculation at the tissue level);
thermometry (skin temperature measurement);
Magnetic resonance angiography or MRI with contrast (a contrast agent is injected intravenously, which allows you to get more detailed information than with MRI).
What to do?
After clarifying the diagnosis, the doctor will be able to prescribe the appropriate treatment. Treatment of circulatory disorders in the limbs can be divided into two types: physiotherapy (conservative) and surgical (surgical). In order not to have to resort to surgical treatment, you should consult a doctor in a timely manner and start physiotherapy. For the positive dynamics of recovery, it is imperative to give up bad habits, such as smoking, drinking alcohol, eating fatty foods, and an inactive lifestyle.
In addition, the doctor will prescribe pharmacological treatment. The line of drugs can be divided into the following groups: antiplatelet agents (prevention of arterial atherosclerosis, increase blood flow, with intermittent claudication increase the distance traveled), anticoagulants (prevention of blood clots, inhibit blood clotting activity).
If the patient did not seek help in time and did not start treatment, most likely there will be a need for surgical treatment, divided into two types: angioplasty and open surgery. Angioplasty – through a puncture in the groin, a thin catheter with a balloon at the end is inserted into the artery to the site of blockage. Having reached the desired site, the balloon inflates, thereby expanding the artery and restoring blood flow. A stent is placed at this site to prevent narrowing of the artery.
Today, circulatory disorders of the lower extremities are successfully treated, but the success of treatment largely depends on the patient himself and his self-control.