Explanation:
Correct Answer Is B
With intermittent calf claudication, presence of the risk factors and an ABI of 0.7 the diagnosis of chronic peripheral arterial disease is almost established. Management of peripheral arterial disease includes the following:
Smoking cessation · smoking is the most important predisposing factor for peripheral arterial disease(PAD). Smoking cesation alone is associated with an improvement in the distance of pain-free walk, doubled 5-year survival and better post-op outcomes.
Exercise – exercise on an as tolerated basis. improves the pain-free walking distance and time and should be advised for all patients.
ACE inhibitors – evidence suggests that ACE inhibitors may improve walking ability in patients with intermittent claudication. The ACE inhibitor with greatest evidence of benefit is ramipril. It is unknown if the improvement in walking distance associated with ramipril is due to a class effect of ACE inhibitors or whether it is specific to this medicine. The ABI does not seem to imp roved though.
Statins – statins improve revascularisation. pain-free walking distance and survival. Of all lipid-lowering agents. only statins have been proved to lower the mortality in patients with vascular diseases due to atherosclerotic changes.It should be started for patients with coronary artery disease,PAD. aortic disease (e.g. abdominal aortic aneurysm),carotid artery disease and diabetes mellitus.
Clopidogrel and aspirin – they are often prescribed to reduce the overall risk of myocardial infarction and stroke, but are not associated wit h improvement of PAD symptoms.
Beta blockers (e.g. metoprolol) are not indicated in the absence of cardiac disease. They have no effect on PAD.
The goals of PAD management are to:
decrease the occurrence of cardiovascular events and prevent death
reduce limb symptoms, improve exercise capacity, and thus improve quality of life
prevent or lessen disability and progression to limb loss.
These goals can be attained through a comprehensive treatment program, which includes lifestyle modifications, exercise and diet, and pharmacotherapy for all PAD patients; and invasive revascularisation for patients with limiting claudication or critical limb ischaemia (CLI).
Patients should be referred to a vascular surgeon when:
- the diagnosis is uncertain
- Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) is evident by rest pain, ischaemic ulceration, or gangrene
- claudication symptoms limit work or lifestyle, and there has been no improvement with an exercise program, risk factor modification and medical management after a 4–6 month period
- consideration of interventional management is felt appropriate by the patient and the general practitioner.
Patients with CLI (rest pain, tissue loss, or gangrene) usually require revascularisation to prevent limb loss. Patients with lifestyle limiting symptoms that do not improve with medical management should also be considered for intervention. The main options include endovascular angioplasty or stenting, or open surgical reconstruction by peripheral bypass or endarterectomy. The choice of procedure will depend on the anatomic location of the stenotic/occlusive disease, its extent, and the patient’s comorbidities.
Among the given option, smoking cessation, statins and ACE inhibitors are the best possible management and the advice for this patient.