What to do about blocked blood vessels in the legs

  Blood vessel blockage in the legs can be divided into arterial occlusion and venous thrombosis according to the location, and the treatment methods are different.  Arterial occlusion: Arterial occlusion in the legs broadly includes lower extremity atherosclerotic occlusion, thromboembolic vasculitis and arterial embolism. Lower extremity atherosclerotic occlusions are common, mostly in the elderly, and are caused by atherosclerotic plaques in the lower extremities that gradually increase in size and block the lumen, and can be treated with medications, bypass surgery (bypass diversion on the proximal and distal sides of the occluded segment of the artery), interventional balloon dilation and/or stent placement, and revascularization therapy. Thrombo-occlusive vasculitis can be treated with anti-platelet aggregation and vasodilator drugs, hyperbaric oxygen chamber therapy, and also with Chinese herbal medicine. The onset of arterial embolism is usually urgent and often requires emergency arterial thrombectomy. If the diagnosis is clear, especially large and middle artery embolism, if the systemic condition is good, the embolism should be taken directly by cutting open the artery or by using balloon catheter as early as possible. In the chronic stage, fibrinolytic drugs, anticoagulant drugs and vasodilator drugs can be applied.  Venous thrombosis treatment: 1. Deep vein thrombosis can be treated medically: including anticoagulant drugs, thrombolytic drugs and symptomatic drugs. Anticoagulation is the basic treatment, regardless of the stage of deep vein thrombosis, anticoagulation therapy is very important. In superficial vein thrombosis, also called superficial phlebitis, anticoagulation is not necessary and is optional; anticoagulants include heparin, low molecular heparin, warfarin and new anticoagulants. Thrombolytic therapy is the treatment of choice in both deep vein thrombosis and superficial phlebitis. It is usually applied when a new deep vein thrombosis is formed. The effect is not exact and it is important to be aware of the side effects of thrombolytic therapy, namely the possibility of bleeding. Thrombolytic drugs include urokinase, fibrinolytic enzymes, and tissue-type fibrinogen activator (t-PA). If drug therapy is ineffective, surgical or interventional treatment is available. Regardless of deep vein thrombosis or superficial phlebitis, if there is severe swelling, active drugs to improve venous circulation can be given for treatment.  2.Surgical treatment: i.e. incision and embolization, surgery has certain risks and relatively high chance of recurrence, so it is less used clinically and not as a routine option. In the occurrence of femoral cyanosis or femoral leukomalacia, it is often necessary to consider incision and embolization to improve the arterial secondary perfusion deficiency limb facing the possibility of ischemic necrosis.  3.Interventional treatment: that is, endovascular treatment, including catheter thrombolysis, catheter aspiration or crushing treatment, which is a newly developed treatment method in recent years and can be applied clinically.