Mandi, September 21: To create awareness, a CME on ‘peripheral artery disease and diabetic foot' was organized by LIVASA Hospital Mohali at Mandi on Saturday.
Dr Ankur Aggarwal, senior consultant vascular & endovascular surgery said that LIVASA Hospital is Punjab's biggest superspecialist hospital network with 5 hospitals, 750 beds, 280 ICU beds, 6 cath labs, 20 modular OTs and the healthcare chain is treating over 3 lac patients every year.
He further said that amputation due to peripheral vascular disease (PVD) can be prevented in 90% of cases with proper education and timely treatment.
PVD is a disease of the blood vessels that affects 15%-20% of the population worldwide. In PAD, the arteries that carry blood to the arms or legs become narrowed or clogged, leading to slowing or stoppage of blood flow.” This disease most commonly affects the legs and sometimes occurs in the arms. Many people do not give much importance to initial symptoms – such as pain or numbness in the legs or arms – because they mistakenly believe it is a normal part of aging. Ignoring the symptoms may lead to gangrene of the limbs and eventually limb loss, he asserted.
Dr Ankur said, “There are various treatment options for PVD, depending on the stage of presentation. In stage 1, if the pain on walking is not too severe then the first line of treatment is medical management in the form of blood thinners (anti-platelets), increasing blood flow (vasodilators), controlling diabetes, hypertension and graded exercises. If the pain does not subside or increases, then treatment should be concentrated on increasing the flow mechanically by angioplasty/stenting and in a few cases bypass grafting. S
Stage 2 and 3 require immediate treatment to prevent limb loss in the form of angiography and angioplasty/stenting and as a last resort surgery. Stage 4 is what we want to avoid, but once gangrene sets in, amputation is the only choice as a lifesaving option, he informed
Symptoms of PVD:
- Leg pain while walking , that goes after a few minutes of rest
- Numbness and tingling in the lower legs and feet.
- Coldness in Lower legs and feet
- Ulcers or sores on legs and Feet that don't heal.
Ways to prevent PVD:
- Stop smoking
- Know your risks: hypertension, diabetes & cholesterol as these are silent killers.
- Maintain healthy weight
- Exercise regularly
- Eat less saturated fat, more produce & more fiber
- get your lipids checked and avoid trans fats
- Go for annual preventive health packages.
