Peripheral Vascular Disease (cont.)
IN THIS ARTICLE
- Peripheral Vascular Disease Overview
- Peripheral Vascular Disease Causes
- Peripheral Vascular Disease Symptoms
- When to Seek Medical Care
- Exams and Tests
- Peripheral Vascular Disease Treatment
- Self-Care at Home
- Medical Treatment
- Medications
- Surgery
- Next Steps
- Follow-up
- Prevention
- Outlook
- Support Groups and Counseling
- For More Information
- Web Links
- Synonyms and Keywords
- Authors and Editors
- Viewer Comments: Peripheral Vascular Disease - Describe Your Experience
Medications
Whether medication is a good choice for you depends on the underlying cause of your peripheral vascular disease. Medications used to treat peripheral vascular disease and intermittent claudication include those that aim to lower the risk and progression of atherosclerosis throughout the body, such as those to help stop smoking, lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and optimize the blood sugar in people with diabetes.
Two medications have been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for direct treatment of the symptom of intermittent claudication.
- Pentoxifylline (Trental): How this drug helps in intermittent claudication is not completely understood. It is believed to improve blood flow by decreasing the viscosity of blood and making red blood cells more flexible. With these alterations, the blood can move more easily past obstructions in the blood vessel.
- Cilostazol (Pletal): This drug keeps platelets from clumping together. This clumping promotes formation of clots and slows down blood flow. The drug also helps dilate, or expand, the blood vessels, encouraging the flow of blood.
- Antiplatelet agents include aspirin, ticlopidine, and clopidogrel. These agents do not get rid of an existing clot. They prevent further clots from forming by keeping blood cells and platelets from clumping together.
- Anticoagulant agents include heparin, warfarin (Coumadin), enoxaparin (Lovenox), and low-molecular-weight heparin: These agents also do not remove an existing clot. They interfere with the sequence of blood clotting factors that causes a clot to form.
- Thrombolytics: These are powerful drugs that can actually dissolve an existing clot. They can be used only under certain circumstances and are given only in the hospital. They can be injected directly into the blocked artery under angiographic guidance. To be effective, they have to be administered intravenously within the first 4-8 hours after a patient develops symptoms.
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Peripheral Vascular Disease »
Peripheral vascular disease (PVD) is a nearly pandemic condition that has the potential to cause loss of limb or even loss of life.
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