Arterial Blockages

Arterial Blockages in the Legs

Signs and Symptoms
Diagnosis
Treatment

Treatment

If your doctor confirms that you have an arterial blockage in your leg, treatment will be based on the degree of blockage and the symptoms present. Treatment may include the following:

• Risk factor modification, such as smoking cessation, control of high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and optimal management of diabetes

• Specific medication

• Balloon angioplasty where a catheter-guided balloon is inflated inside the affected artery to relieve the blockage

• Surgery -- often bypass surgery to direct blood flow around the blocked area of the artery

Reviewed by health care specialists at UCSF Medical Center.
Last updated May 8, 2007