Abstract

Background & Methods: The aim of the study is to study the various risk factors of Peripheral Arterial Disease and their association using Ankle Brachial Index as a screening tool.The patients were asked to lay supine for 5 minutes before the ABI was measured, to ensure the accurate blood pressure readings. Blood pressure cuff were placed on the arms and ankles on the arms and ankles and the pulse was detected with a 5 Hz hand held Doppler probe. Results: Smoking is associated with increased risk of PAD. Out of 78 PAD patients 46 (42.5%) were smokers out of 108. 32 (23.2%) out of 138 nonsmokers. The difference was significant P=0.0406. Out of PAD group 40 patients (51%) had CAD while in non-PAD group 46 patients (27.3%) had CAD. The difference is statistically significant P=0.01. Conclusion: Assessing our observations, we recommend the routine use of ABI as a screening tool for PAD and atherosclerosis particularly in diabetics. We also recommend that some more and larger studies should be conducted in diabetics and other groups of patients to extrapolate the results to the general Indian population.

Description