What You Should Know About Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

Peripheral Artery Disease Evaluations

What will my doctor do when evaluating me for PAD?

Take your medical and family history. You'll be asked how much you exercise, whether you smoke or have smoked, what risk factors you have, and what, if any, symptoms of PAD you have.

Perform a physical exam. Evidence of reduced blood flow is assessed by checking the strength of your pulses; the color, temperature, and appearance of your legs and feet; and evidence of poor wound healing.

Take an ankle-brachial index (ABI) test. (See illustration, left.) This simple and painless test can be done in your doctor's office using a blood pressure cuff and portable electronic listening device called a Doppler probe. By comparing the blood pressure taken in your arm and at your ankle, this test can help determine whether you have PAD.
> 1.0 = normal ABI
< 0.9 = PAD is strongly suggested

Your doctor also may order other tests. Two painless tests are ultrasound and noninvasive vascular testing. Doppler ultrasound or duplex scanning at several locations on your body can assess blood flow and identify blockages.

A more invasive test would be angiography, in which a contrast material is injected into the blood vessels. This is done when the goal is both diagnosis and treatment. Angiography provides a clear picture of the blockages so an angioplasty or stent to improve blood flow can be done in the same procedure.