Description

"Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane”  - Martin Luther King Jr., 1966
 
PAD is a circulatory deficiency that is prevalent among the aging U.S. population, with an estimated 21 million Americans predicted to have the disease by 2020 (1).  If left untreated, PAD can lead to amputation.  Up to 3.5 million people are currently affected with Critical Limb Ischemia (CLI) (2).  Each year more than 160,000 amputations are performed in the USA a a result of (untreated) PAD (3). 54% of patients who underwent an amputation were not assesses via diagnostic angiogram (4). 

The probability of major amputation depends on:  who you are and where you live, your race/ethnicity/age/sex, and SES, hospital vascular rx volume.  Medicare/Medicaid recipients make up the majority of those undergoing amputations.  The economic burden of PAD / CLI exceeds diabetes and all cancers.

Education and health literacy are social determinants of health affecting mortality, morbidity, life expectancy, health care expenditures, health status and functional limitations.  Our goal should be to avoid amputation as a first-line treatment for CLI patients.  To accomplish this, we need increased PAD awareness, a multidisciplinary approach, no amputations without arterial testing and screening for at-risk patients.

Specialty

• 
  Foot & Nail
• 
  Wound

Learning Outcome

Additional Info

AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™:
1.00

Physical Therapy Contact Hours:
1.00

Type of Credit:
AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM, Physical Therapy Contact Hours