Peripheral Arterial Disease
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Heart Vascular and Leg Center
Vascular Specialists & Cardiologists located in Bakersfield, CA
Did you know that clogging and narrowing of the arteries can occur in your legs and feet? This condition is called peripheral arterial disease (PAD) and may affect the blood delivery to your extremities and increase your risk of amputation. At Heart Vascular and Leg Center in Bakersfield, California, board-certified cardiologist Vinod Kumar MD, FACC, and his team are experts who specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of PAD. To learn more about PAD, call the office to schedule an evaluation or book online today.
Peripheral Arterial Disease Q & A
What is peripheral arterial disease (PAD)?
PAD is a circulatory condition that develops when plaque builds up along the walls of your peripheral arteries, causing them to narrow and decrease blood flow to your limbs.
With PAD, your leg arteries may have a hard time delivering life-sustaining blood to the affected areas. When left untreated, toes, feet, and even legs may be lost to amputation.
The good news is 4 out of 5 amputations are preventable. Heart Vascular and Leg Center uses cutting-edge technology to reopen your clogged arteries and restore blood flow to save your limbs.
PAD treatment requires no cutting, no surgery, and no hospital stay, and the experts perform these procedures at Heart Vascular and Leg Center.
Am I at risk of peripheral arterial disease?
Nearly 12 million adults in the United States have PAD. Various health conditions and habits may increase your risk of developing PAD, including:
- Diabetes
- History of smoking
- Chronic kidney disease
- High cholesterol
- High blood pressure
- Family history of PAD, heart disease, or stroke
- Obesity
Your risk of developing PAD also increases as you get older.
What are peripheral arterial disease symptoms?
PAD may not cause symptoms, or the symptoms may be so mild they go unnoticed. However, if you experience leg pain when walking, medically called claudication, you may have PAD.
Other symptoms include:
- Numbing or tingling in your legs or feet
- Leg pain
- Nonhealing wounds or ulcers on your legs
- A decrease in leg hair growth
- Slow growing toenails
Erectile dysfunction in men may also be a symptom of PAD.
How is peripheral arterial disease diagnosed?
Initially, the team at Heart Vascular and Leg Center performs an ankle-brachial index (ABI) to diagnose PAD.
During the quick, painless, and noninvasive test, your provider places a blood pressure cuff on your arms and legs to compare the blood pressure of each. Your provider may also perform a vascular ultrasound to evaluate the movement of blood through your blood vessels.
If the test results are abnormal, your provider performs an angiography, an X-ray that uses a special dye to assess blood flow through your peripheral arteries.
Dedicated to providing care for all patients, Heart Vascular and Leg Center also offers the CO2 (carbon dioxide) angiography for patients with kidney disease who can’t receive the dye used in the traditional angiography.
Heart Vascular and Leg Center and the experienced cardiologists were the first doctors in California to use this technology and the only team in Bakersfield to offer this type of testing.
Heart Vascular and Leg Center wants to help you walk stronger and live longer. Contact the office by phone to schedule your PAD evaluation or book an appointment online today.
With a unique depth of training, diagnostic expertise and state-of-the-art technology, Heart Vascular and Leg Center offers same-day, minimally invasive procedures for a wide variety of vascular conditions including:
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