Peripheral Artery Disease and Spinal Fracture Treatment

At USA Vascular Centers, our expert advice assists doctors and patients around the world. We dedicate ourselves to delivering information you can trust. Studies have detected strong correlations between peripheral artery disease (PAD) and spinal cord injuries (SCI), such as spinal fractures. Patients suffering from SCI have a much greater risk of experiencing PAD symptoms than other patients.

Similarly, diabetic patients (types 1 and 2) possess an equally high risk of PAD symptoms than patients without SCI. Furthermore, injuries to particular areas of the spine, namely the lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal spinal areas, increase one’s risk of suffering PAD symptoms. As such, spinal fracture treatment is the most effective solution to such injuries, and can also alleviate PAD symptoms. In this article, we look closely at both SCI and PAD.

Peripheral Artery Disease

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is one the most lethal conditions affecting Americans, though patients rarely receive the necessary treatment. Patients suffering from PAD, even those without history of myocardial infarctions or ischemic strokes, are at greater risk of cardiovascular disease. PAD is a common circulatory condition wherein the arteries are narrowed, reducing blood flow to limbs and extremities. It can also restrict blood flow to the brain and heart. This can lead to coronary artery disease, as well as symptoms of claudication, a mild to sharp leg pain when moving about. Additional symptoms include resting pain and atypical leg discomfort.

Factors such as poor diet, smoking, hypertension, and lack of exercise cause fatty deposits to accumulate in your arteries. This is known as atherosclerosis, the primary factor in narrowing of the arteries. PAD symptoms affect more than 200 million people globally, with up to 50% percent of patients experiencing no symptoms.

Spinal Fracture Treatment

Spinal cord injuries can be severely affecting, with approximately 250,000 people suffering SCIs each year, globally. Common SCIs include spinal fractures, which can impair the patient’s motor system, also affecting the sensory and autonomic systems in some cases. Medicine commonly associates spinal cord injuries with complications such as respiratory failure, cardiovascular dysfunction, thromboembolism, and autonomic dysreflexia. Spinal fracture treatments can come in surgical and nonsurgical varieties. Nonsurgical spinal fracture treatment involves the use of analgesic medicines to manage pain, along with bed rest, back bracing, and controlled physical activity.

Spinal fractures can last for several months as the body heals, and patients can sometimes be in near-constant pain early on. Surgical options for spinal fracture treatment include vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty. Both procedures have successfully decreased and eliminated pain associated with spinal fractures. As spinal fractures place abnormal pressure on the body, SCIs can exacerbate PAD symptoms in patients with narrowed arteries. As such, spinal fracture treatment can relieve PAD symptoms, reducing pressure on the arteries as the body heals.