Left untreated, PADPeripheral Artery Disease, a potentially life threatening disease where plaque, like calcium, builds up along blood vessel walls, narrowing the arteries and reducing blood flow to the legs and feet. can lead to amputationTo surgically remove all or part of a limb (leg, foot or toe)
Questions to ask your doctor
Talking with a health care professional about peripheral artery diseasePeripheral artery disease (PAD) is a disease in which plaque builds up in the arteries that carry blood to your head, organs, and limbs. Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, fibrous tissue, and other substances in the blood. (PAD) is important, but you might not be sure how to do it. You want to ask questions that will get you the information you need to make the best decisions about your health.
Or maybe you’ve already been diagnosed with PAD, but you still have questions or concerns about your health or treatment plan. For example, your doctor may recommend lifestyle changes34 or minimally invasiveIn minimally invasive surgery, surgeons use a variety of techniques to operate with less injury to the body than with open surgery. In general, it is safer than open surgery and allows you to recover faster and heal with less pain and scarring. medical procedures.35
Or your doctor could suggest amputation, a common treatment for advanced stages of PAD. Treatment options are constantly advancing, and today’s techniques to treat PAD are very different than they were just five years ago.20
If you think you may be at risk for PAD, click here for a list of questions you can use to help guide your talk with your doctor about the risk factors for this disease.
If you have been diagnosed with PAD and you’ve been told you need an amputation due to PAD or CLI (critical limb ischemiaAlso potentially known as CLI, the most severe and deadly form of peripheral artery disease.) or that you are at risk for an amputation, these questions can help to guide a conversation with your doctor:
- Are there tests I should have that can provide more information about my condition?
- Does your clinic/hospital have a limb salvage programA hospital-based, physician-led, comprehensive program in which health care providers coordinate your care among the multiple specialties involved with the goal of saving your legs, feet or toes from amputation.?
- What treatment options do I have other than amputation?
- What benefits do these options offer compared to amputation?
- What are potential complications associated with these alternatives?
- What type of post-treatment recovery should I expect?
- What type of training and experience do you have with these options?
You can learn about the disease by reading this website. But don’t wait — early detection and treatment are important — talk to a health care professional about PAD now.
Schedule a time to talk with your doctor, or use our Find a Doctor tool to locate a PAD specialist near you.
Not all health care professionals are PAD specialists — and not all PAD specialists use the most current treatment techniques — so it is important to get a second opinion that could help guide your treatment decisions.
If your doctor or hospital does not have a limb salvage program, you might want to consider consulting a PAD specialist.33
Talk to Your Doctor
Only a health care professional can diagnose you with PAD. Our Symptom Quiz can help guide the conversation about your treatment options.
Take the Symptom Quiz
Click below to take the interactive Symptom Quiz. You can print your answers out and take them with you to a doctor to help guide your conversation about PAD.
Stop ignoring the signs. Talk to a PAD specialist. Take control of your health.