
10/09/2025
Pamela’s Pearl with Pamela Scarborough,PT,DPT,CWS,FAAWC.
This week we are talking about: How to recognize Chronic Symptomatic Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD). As part of your vascular assessment for the lower extremity, are you asking your ambulatory patients and residents:
“Do your legs or feet hurt when you walk and is the pain relieved with a short rest?”
Claudication is recognized as a manifestation of chronic symptomatic PAD and should be a component of the history and physical examination for PAD.
Claudication is defined as fatigue, cramping, aching, pain, or other discomfort of vascular origin in the muscles of the lower extremities that is consistently induced by walking and consistently relieved by rest (usually within approximately 10 minutes). Claudication that limits functional status is known as functionally limiting claudication.
References: Gornik HL, Aronow HD, Goodney PP, Arya S, Brewster LP, Byrd L, Chandra V, Drachman DE, Eaves JM, Ehrman JK, Evans JN, Getchius TSD, Gutiérrez JA, Hawkins BM, Hess CN, Ho KJ, Jones WS, Kim ESH, Kinlay S, Kirksey L, Kohlman-Trigoboff D, Long CA, Pollak AW, Sabri SS, Sadwin LB, Secemsky EA, Serhal M, Shishehbor MH, Treat-Jacobson D, Wilkins LR, et al. 2024 ACC/AHA/AACVPR/APMA/ABC/SCAI/SVM/SVN/SVS/SIR/VESS guideline for the management of lower extremity peripheral artery disease: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines. Circulation. Published online May 14, 2024.