What is “peripheral vascular disease”?

Peripheral vascular disease, clinically, is a collective term for vascular diseases other than cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, including arterial, venous and lymphatic diseases of the three systems. Common arterial diseases include: arterial stenosis and occlusive diseases, such as atherosclerotic occlusive disease, arterial embolism; arterial dilatation lesions, such as aneurysms; arterial inflammation, such as aortitis, thrombotic occlusive vasculitis, nodular arteritis; extrinsic compression lesions, such as thoracic outlet syndrome, arterial extrusion syndrome; peripheral arterial dysfunction, such as Reynaud’s disease (phenomenon); and other diseases, including Arteriovenous fistula, diabetic peripheral vascular lesions. Venous diseases include: varicose veins of superficial veins and thrombosed superficial phlebitis; deep venous system include: deep vein thrombosis, post deep vein thrombosis syndrome, primary deep vein valvular insufficiency, deep vein thrombosis complicating pulmonary embolism; and also Bugatti’s syndrome, K-T syndrome and so on. Lymphatic system diseases are characterized by inflammation and obstruction of reflux, such as lymphadenitis, dengue, and lymphedema. With the increase of morbidity, the danger of peripheral vascular disease is also gradually emphasized by people. Such as various parts of the aneurysm, like hidden in the body of the “time bomb”, once the rupture is very tricky to deal with; atherosclerosis occlusive disease, arterial embolism, diabetic gangrene, etc. can lead to limb ischemia, not only will cause intolerable pain in the limbs, the serious even need to amputate the limbs; and cervical arteriosclerosis stenosis will lead to stroke, Paralysis; some venous and lymphatic system reflux disease, such as deep vein valve insufficiency, lymphedema can lead to perennial swelling of the lower limbs, and even the formation of ulcers, the formation of the commonly known as “old rotting feet”, which seriously affects the patient’s daily life. Symptoms of peripheral vascular disease vary according to the nature of the disease. Common lower limb arterial stenosis occlusive disease, such as atherosclerotic occlusive disease, due to insufficient blood supply to the distal limb, manifested in the initial intermittent claudication, i.e., walking a certain distance after the lower limb soreness, fatigue, or pain, which can be relieved after resting, and the symptoms of the later stage of the disease aggravated, and there will be resting pain, gangrene of the limbs; and due to the atrial embolism resulting in lower limb arterial embolism, the condition changes to be much more rapid, due to acute ischemia will occur in the lower extremities, and the patient will have a lot of symptoms. Acute ischemia will appear lower limb cool, numbness, pain, once irreversible ischemia is very easy to lead to a wide range of limb gangrene, many patients have to amputate in order to save life. Aneurysms are usually asymptomatic and, except for superficial ones that may be palpated by the patient, deeper ones such as subclavian, iliac and visceral aneurysms are often not easy to detect, but they are often fatal – untreated aneurysms can rupture when they reach a certain level of growth. Most people are familiar with the symptoms of varicose saphenous veins, i.e., “bruising” of the lower extremities, swelling and tenderness, hyperpigmentation, itching, etc. However, these chronic symptoms may not be taken seriously, and it is often not until thrombophlebitis or ulcer formation that a person seeks medical attention. The incidence of peripheral vascular diseases has been on the rise year after year, but the public’s understanding of these diseases is inconsistent, and even some non-specialists often misdiagnose and omit to diagnose them, such as treating typical intermittent claudication as lumbar disc herniation, or mistaking deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremities for tansy. Therefore, we suggest that, on the one hand, we should enhance the awareness of self-care and have regular medical checkups; on the other hand, when peripheral vascular diseases are suspected, we should go to vascular surgery specialists as much as possible, so as not to miss the opportunity for treatment.