Intermittent claudication. An update on management.

The mainstay of treatment for claudication is reversal of risk factors, especially smoking, and the use of antiplatelet drugs and possibly pentoxifylline. A major factor in the long term management is atherosclerotic involvement in other parts of the circulation resulting in a shortened life span. Treatment should be directed at the disease in general, rather than in the legs alone. Patients disabled by claudication may gain symptomatic relief with relatively low risk using balloon angioplasty or vascular reconstructive procedures.