A 55-year-old man recently underwent a series of surgeries for peripheral vascular disease and deteriorating kidney health at Madras Medical Mission hospital here.
The man sought medical help at MMM in 2021 for pain in leg and difficulty in walking. Saravanan Sundararaj, director, vascular and organ transplantation at the hospital, said investigations found that the infra renal aorta was obstructed. “He said when I am walking, I have to stop after 300 m. Any of the five conditions — diabetes, hypertension, smoking, obesity and heart disease could cause leg pain. The minute we examined the groin blood vessels we knew it had no pulse,” Dr. Saravanan recalled. The patient had peripheral arterial disease.
“When you walk the muscles need oxygen but obstruction in blood vessels will prevent oxygen flow and cause pain. If untreated it could lead to gangrene,” he explained. Leg injuries would not heal leading to amputation.
