Condition Lookup
Category:
Vascular Injuries
Number of Conditions: 1
Limb Ischemia
Specialty: Trauma and Injuries
Category: Vascular Injuries
Sub-category: Acute Ischemia
Symptoms:
sudden severe pain in the limb; pallor (paleness); pulselessness; paresthesia (numbness or tingling); paralysis; poikilothermia (cold limb)
Root Cause:
Obstruction of arterial blood flow to a limb, causing tissue hypoxia and risk of irreversible damage if not promptly treated.
How it's Diagnosed: videos
Diagnosed via clinical signs, ankle-brachial index (ABI), Doppler ultrasound, or angiography.
Treatment:
Treated urgently with anticoagulation, thrombolysis, angioplasty, or surgical revascularization.
Medications:
Anticoagulants like heparin (to prevent clot progression) and thrombolytics like alteplase (to dissolve clots) are commonly used; these belong to anticoagulant and fibrinolytic classes, respectively.
Prevalence:
How common the health condition is within a specific population.
Acute limb ischemia affects approximately 1-2 cases per 10,000 annually; common in older adults with cardiovascular risk factors.
Risk Factors:
Factors or behaviors that increase the likelihood of developing the condition.
Atherosclerosis, peripheral artery disease, atrial fibrillation, smoking, diabetes, and hypertension.
Prognosis:
The expected outcome or course of the condition over time.
Depends on the speed of treatment; untreated ischemia can lead to limb loss or death within hours to days. Early intervention improves outcomes significantly.
Complications:
Additional problems or conditions that may arise as a result of the original condition.
Permanent nerve or muscle damage, limb amputation, reperfusion injury, acute kidney injury, and death.