Peripheral arterial diseases

Abstract

In the field of peripheral arterial diseases it is essential that the doctor know how to diagnose a case in its earliest stages. The method of doing this has been described. After making a proper diagnosis, the question of management of the case is then in order. Fundamental principles based upon long experience in this field have been described, enabling the doctor to treat these patients in an intelligent manner. Gangrene is, for the most part, a preventable disease and a good deal of the responsibility for this prevention rests upon intelligence and well-founded principles of treatment rather than upon the employment of some new gadget or apparatus or single method of treatment which has received unwarranted popularity. Amputation of limbs, when necessary, must be done in a simple and gentle manner for the ultimate aim of saving the patient's life and of getting the patient back to tn ambulatory condition as soon as possible.Copyright © 2010 The Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine.