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UT Southwestern Medical Center’s vascular specialists provide the most effective treatments available for peripheral vascular disease, which affects blood vessels that carry blood to the legs, arms, kidneys or stomach.

Tests and Exams

Our peripheral vascular disease specialists will accurately diagnose a patient’s condition to determine the patient’s risk for complications and to prescribe the right treatment. By carefully evaluating the patient’s medical history and using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), angiography, ultrasound or other examinations for assessment, a UT Southwestern specialist will recommend the right medication and lifestyle changes that will help the patient minimize risk for a heart attack or stroke.

Treatment

If medication or lifestyle changes are not sufficient to keep peripheral vascular disease under control, a specialist will recommend an angioplasty treatment or surgical procedure.

By accurately assessing the amount of plaque build-up that may be occurring in the patient’s blood vessels, UT Southwestern’s specialists can determine whether patients are candidates for a procedure to place a stent (mesh-like tube) to help unblock a blood vessel. With this minimally invasive angioplasty procedure, only a small incision is needed to use a catheter to place the stent in the appropriate location.

Depending on the patient’s specific condition, the vascular surgeon may use a procedure to repair the blood vessel by removing a vein from another part of the body to re-route blood flow around the portion of a blood vessel that is blocked. In other cases, a synthetic blood vessel may be used to accomplish the same result.

If the patient’s normal blood flow is blocked due to peripheral vascular disease, effective treatment is necessary to reduce the patient’s risk of infection, heart attack, stroke and other potentially serious conditions. A UT Southwestern vascular specialist can accurately determine whether the peripheral vascular disease presents a risk for complications.

With the right medications to effectively treat cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood-sugar levels and prevent blood clots, our physicians can not only help relieve the symptoms of patients’ peripheral vascular disease, but also address its causes and help prevent the need for surgery, angioplasty or other procedures. If the condition requires surgery or minimally invasive therapies, our specialists have the knowledge and experience needed to effectively treat peripheral vascular disease.

Patient Education

Early diagnosis can help patients make the lifestyle changes and receive the medication needed to ameliorate the symptoms of peripheral vascular disease. With the help of a UT Southwestern specialist, the accumulation of plaque in blood vessels can be stopped or even reversed, allowing the patient to achieve a renewed state of health.

For more information, please visit the Health Library.