Patient was educated on peripheral artery disease as follows:
- Peripheral artery disease is a condition in which blood supply to the distal parts of the extremities is compromised, secondary to collapsed blood vessels.
- The collapse of blood vessels can be secondary to various conditions, such as, chronic smoking history, cholesterol deposits in the blood vessels blocking the blood supply, or poorly managed diabetes.
- Peripheral artery disease symptoms are characteristically seen in bilateral lower extremities, as these are the most distal parts of the body.
- Under normal conditions, as the lower extremities have more muscle mass, the demand for blood supply is also more. This demand further increases, when the muscles are in exercise, such as, ambulation.
- In a patient with compromised blood supply to the extremities, the muscles of the extremities receive low blood supply and nutrients in comparison to the demand, even under resting conditions. The imbalance between demand and supply further increases during exercise and so, the patient presents with pain in the limb during ambulation.
- The pain in the limb during ambulation, which eases out on rest, is called claudication pain and is characteristic of the disease.
