Vascular Flashcards
What is peripheral arterial disease?
Narrowing or arteries to limbs and peripheries-> reduces blood supply
What is intermittent claudication?
- Ischaemia in limb
- During exertion + relieved by rest
- Crampy/achy pain in leg
- Associated with muscle fatigue when walk intensely
What is critical limb ischaemia?
- End stage PAD
- Inadequate blood supply
- Pain at rest
- Non-healing ulcers + gangrene
- Risk of losing leg
What is acute limb ischaemia?
Rapid ischaemia due to clot blocking arterial supply
What is gangrene?
Death of tissue due to inadequate blood supply
What is ischaemia?
Inadequate oxygen causing tissue necrosis + death
What is artherosclerosis?
- Chronic inflammation + activation of immune system-> lipid deposits + plaques
- Happens to medium and large arteries
- Can lead to stiff walls (HTN), heart strain, stenosis, plaque rupture + thrombus
What are the signs of critical limb ischaemia?
- Pain
- Pallor
- Pulseless
- Paralysis
- Paraesthesia
- Perishing cold
- Often worse at night when raised
What can cause critical limb ischaemia?
- Thrombosis
- Emboli-> more sudden presentation
- Graft/angioplasty occlusion
- Trauma
How should critical limb ischaemia be investigated?
- Neuro exam
- Obs
- Arterial + venous dopplers
- CT angiogram
- Rutherford scoring
What is the Rutherford scoring system?
- For critical limb ischaemia-> risk of limb
- Stage I-> viable
- Stage IIa
- Stage IIb-> immediate threat to limb
- Stage III-> irreversible damage
How is critical limb ischaemia treated?
- Heparin infusion
- Revascularisation-> within 4-6 hours
Wha tis the main post-op complication of revascularisation?
Reperfusion injury-> functional loss of nerves + muscles, can cause compartment syndrome
What is Lerich syndrome?
Occlusion of distal aorta or proximal common iliac artery
What is the clinical triad or Lerich syndrome?
Thigh/buttock claudication + absent femoral pulse + male impotence
What are some signs of peripheral arterial disease?
- RFs-> tar staining on fingers, xanthomata
- CVD-> amputations, midline sternotomy, focal weakness (previous stroke)
- Weak peripheral pulses
- Reduced skin temperature, reduced sensation, prolonged CRT
- Arterial-> pallor, cyanosis, dependent rubour, muscle wasting, hair loss, ulcers, poor wound healing, gangrene
What is Buerger’s test?
- Lie on back + lift leg to 45 degrees for 1-2 minutes
- Pallor-> arterial supply unable to overcome gravity
- Assess Buerger’s angle-> where legs go pale
- Sit up with legs off bed-> should go pink
- PAD-> go blue (ischaemic tissue- deoxygenated blood) then dark red (vasodilation due to waste products of anaerobic)
What causes an ulcer?
Skin/tissue struggling to heal due to impaired blood flow
What are the signs of an arterial ulcer?
- Small
- Deep
- Well definited border
- ‘Punched out’
- Peripheral (eg toes)
- Reduced bleeding
- Painful-> worse at night + improved when lower leg (gravity helps)
What are the signs of a venous ulcer?
- Larger
- More superficial
- Irregular or sloping borders
- Affect gaiter area (mid calf to ankle)
- Less painful
- Worse when lower leg
- Other chronic venous insufficiency signs
How should peripheral arterial disease be investigated?
- ABPI
- DUplex US-> speed + volume of flow
- Angiography
What is ABPI?
- Ankle-brachia pressure index
- Ratio of systolic in ankle to arm using doppler probe
- Ankle systolic 80 and arm 100-> ABPI of 0.8
What ABPI result is normal?
0.9-1.3
What ABPI result shows mild PAS?
0.6-0.9
What ABPI result shows moderate-severe PAD?
0.3-0.6
What ABPI result shows severe to critical ischaemia?
<0.3
What ABPI result indicates calcification?
> 1.3
How is intermittent claudication managed?
- Risk factor and lifestyle management
- Exercise training
- Medical-> high dose statin, aspirin/clopidogrel, Naftidrofuryl
- Surgical-> endovascular angiogram + stent, endartectomy, bypass
How is acute limb ischaemia managed?
- Urgent referral
- Endovascular thrombolysis or thrombectomy
- Surgical thrombectomy
- Endartectomy
- Bypass
- Amputation
What are varicose veins?
Distended superficial leg vein-> >3mm diameter + usually legs
What are reticular veins?
Dilated vessels in the skin-> 1-3mm
What is telangiectasia?
-Spider/thread veins-> <1mm
How do varicose veins develop?
- Valves allow flow in 1 direction towards heart
- Legs contract + squeeze blood up against gravity
- Incompetent-> blood back down + pools in veins + feet
- Perforating veins connect deep + superficial-> incompetent valves mean flow back to superficial-> dilation + engorged
What happens in chronic venous insufficiency?
- Blood pools + pressure causes leakage to tissues
- Brown deposits/discolouration to shins-> Hb in blood breaks down to haemosiderin
- Venous eczema-> inflammation + dry
- Lipodermatosclerosis-> tight + hard skin + tissues (fibrosis)
What are the risk factors for varicose veins?
- Older age
- FH
- Female
- Pregnancy
- Obesity
- Prolonged standing
- DVT
How do varicose veins present?
- Engorged + dilated superficial leg veins
- Heavy/dragging feeling
- Aching
- Itching
- Burning
- Oedema
- Muscle cramps
- Restless legs
- Chronic insufficiency
What special tests should be done in varicose veins?
- Tap test
- Cough test
- Trendelenburg’s
- Perthe’s test
- Duplex US
How is the tap test performed?
- Pressure to SFJ + tap distal varicose vein
- Feel for thrill
- Suggests incompetent venous valve between 2