Cold legs and feet, beware of arterial occlusion in lower extremities

The 76-year-old Li Bo has repeatedly experienced cold feet and weakness in his lower limbs in the past six months. After walking a certain distance, he has to stop and rest. From time to time, he will have leg pain and the walking distance is getting shorter and shorter. Even shortened to 20 meters. In the past week, Li Bo’s right lower limb pain suddenly increased, telling his son that the leg pain was severe. The son found that Li Bo's toe was black and ulcerated, and he hurriedly sent Li Bo to the hospital for treatment. After a detailed examination by the receiving doctor, Li Bo was diagnosed with arteriosclerosis obliterans of the lower extremities and required interventional surgery.

Arteriosclerosis obliterans of the lower extremities is caused by the formation of atherosclerotic plaques in the lower extremities, which causes the arteries of the lower extremities to be narrowed and occluded, which in turn leads to chronic ischemia of the limbs, which causes chills in the feet and legs. With the increasing age of society, the incidence of lower limb ischemic diseases is also on the rise. The incidence of people over 70 years old is 15%-20%, and 5%-10% of patients can develop severe lower limb deficiency. Blood, even the need for amputation.

Li Bo was surprised when he learned that his cold feet needed surgery. As everyone knows, almost all patients have symptoms ranging from mild to severe: cold lower limbs, weakness in the lower limbs, pain in the lower limbs, and progressive development of lower limb ulcers. When symptoms such as coldness, numbness, or even pain appear in the lower limbs, many people think that it is not a serious illness and do not seek medical attention in time. When symptoms such as rotten feet appear, it is often too late to go to the hospital.

When many patients have symptoms of lower extremity ischemia, there is often a risk of severe ischemia in the heart and brain vessels. If we can pay enough attention to the danger signs of some vascular diseases and go to the hospital for examination in time, we can achieve early prevention, early diagnosis, and early diagnosis. Treat early. Li Bo's low-extremity arteriosclerosis obliterans was caused by perennial high blood pressure.

So, what are the danger signs of lower limb ischemia? According to the clinical symptoms of patients, they can be divided into four stages:

Stage I: Mild symptom period. Most patients have mild symptoms, such as cold limbs, numbness, and fatigue when walking.

Stage II: Intermittent claudication. Intermittent claudication is a characteristic manifestation of arteriosclerotic obliterans. The longer the claudication time and the shorter the walking distance, the more severe the arterial disease.

Stage III: Resting and painful period. The lesion worsened, and there was ischemic pain at rest, that is, resting pain. Resting pain is a precursor to gangrene in the affected limb. The pain is mostly in the front half of the foot or toe of the affected limb.

Stage IV: the ulcer and gangrene stage. Acral ulcers are aggravated by the ischemia of the affected limb. In severe cases, limb gangrene occurs, and the combined infection accelerates gangrene.