Peripheral Vascular Disease

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Peripheral Vascular Disease This paper reviews peripheral vascular disease (PVD). It will review the physiology of the body before disease, pathophysiology, risk factors, treatment and management. Case Study L.K. is a 68-year-old male who presents to his primary care physician of right lower leg pain. He states that while he was walking around the park, he would experience pain in his right calf. He also states that if he stops and rest on a park bench, the pain will slowly go away. He has been waking up at night with a “cramping pain” at night in the same lower extremity and that dangling his legs on the side of the bed helps to relieve the pain. Past medical history is significant for hypertension, which he is taking hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) and he is also a diabetic, but his blood glucose is under control. His last hemoglobin A1C was 6.1 %. Recent blood work showed she has hyperlipidemia LDL 169 mg/dL and triglycerides of 211 mg/dL. Because the results of his blood work, her doctor recently started him on Zocar. The patient states that he does smoke at least a half a pack a day and is trying to quit. On examination, the right lower leg is cooler to the touch in comparison to the left leg. There is a scant amount of hair on the leg as well as a diminished pulse to the posterior tibial. L.K ABI Disease Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) or peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is caused by the manifestation of atherosclerosis in the arteries that are distal to the aortic arch. The atherosclerosis causes a narrowing of the arteries. (Sontheimer, 2006, p. 1971). Atherosclerosis is due to an unnecessary accumulation of plaque that surrounds the arterial wall. This disorder prevents the proper blood flow in the body and can cause cardiovascular problems that can become serious if left untreated. (Nordqvist, 2013, p. 1-4). Patients that are

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