Clinically, intermittent claudication can be categorized into three types, which are neurogenic intermittent claudication, spinal cord intermittent claudication and vascular intermittent claudication.
1. Neurogenic intermittent claudication: it mainly refers to the lesion of spinal nerve roots or peripheral nerve trunks of lower limbs due to exogenous compression factors, resulting in pain and numbness of limbs when walking, which can be automatically relieved or disappear after rest. It is commonly seen in lumbar spinal stenosis, lumbar disc herniation, lumbar disc resorption, lumbar posterior border dissection or pelvic outlet syndrome.
2. Intermittent claudication of spinal cord origin: it is often related to the lesions of the spinal cord itself, such as myelitis and gray matter lesions of the spinal cord, and compression by external factors, and mainly manifests as weakness, numbness, and soreness of the lower limbs after walking, which can be recovered after resting, and is commonly seen in spinal vascular disease, spinal arteriovenous fistula, and other diseases.
3. Vascular intermittent claudication: mainly due to small and medium-sized vascular lesions in the lower limbs, such as arteritis, causing peripheral ischemia of the lower limbs, resulting in lower limb pain, numbness and so on. It is commonly seen in thrombotic occlusive vasculitis, primary wandering thrombosed superficial phlebitis, periarteritis nodosa, diabetic foot and other diseases.
Therefore, when the above situation occurs, it is recommended to go to the hospital as soon as possible for a clear diagnosis and active treatment.