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Vascular Surgery/leg pain (vascular in origin??)

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Expert: Lauri Ordway - 2/9/2003


Question
My husband is 5'8", aprrox 200 lbs, smokes (pack a day) drinks, and is on plendil 2.5mg once a day for high blood pressure. right before christmas he started complaining about severe pain in his foot.  He had stretched it a bit and thought it might be a pulled tendon  etc.  The past 2 weeks, he is complaining of leg/calf/foot pain.  His discriptions is a aching pain but it is not relieved by elevation, sitting, or any other change. He has been having severe problems with impotence, slight problems in the summer but it seems to be escalating. I'm not sure if these are all combined as general symptoms of a single problem or various problems.  He has a fairly high pain tolerance level and his complaints of the severity scare me.  But I am not sure which way to look.  Are these symptoms relevant to a vascular problem in his legs and if not where should we go?
Thank you for your help.
Karin Hostetler

Answer
classic signs, elevation will make the pain worse, only way to stop the pain is to stop the activity or keep foot lower than heart. he should make an appointment with a peripheral vascular surgeon, get evaluated and will likely need surgery, the single most important thing is to stop smoking, if he won't stop, some surgeons won't even fix the problem because smoking will make the surgery fail. If you don't know of a good peripheral vascular surgeon in your area, let me know where you live (nearest large or university town) and I'll see if I can help. lauri

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Lauri Ordway

Expertise

I can answer your questions related to your circulation, your peripheral vascular system. This includes all arteries and veins except those inside the head and inside the heart. For example, neck (carotid), arms (carotid subclavian bypasses to Thoracic Outlet) belly (aortic aneurysm & occlusive disorders, renal artery stenosis), legs (iliac, femoral, popliteal, peroneal, dorasalis pedis, posterior and anterior tibial) arteries. Aneurysm & occlusive disease, atherosclerosis, leg pain, arterial wounds and gangrene, amputation prevention. Arterial Bypass, Reynaud’s, Buerger's disease (thromboangiitis obliterans), Thoracic Outlet and other circulation disorders. Vein disorders: Blood Clots (DVT), post-phlebetic syndrome, varicose veins, venous stasis ulcers. I can help with vascular wounds from diagnosis to treatments. I have worked extensively with VNUS Closure and EVLT (Laser) for varicose veins and can describe pre and post procedure expectations and describe the procedures themselves. I can't help with spider veins or cosmetic vein treatment, we don't do it. I have 15 years of wound care experience, arterial, venous, trauma and diabetic wounds for example. **I CANNOT answer questions about STENTS or STENTING, heart disease, blood pressure, brain aneurysm although I can help with questions about the arteries that go to and from those organs.

Experience

I am a nurse, I worked for 15 years with two terrific peripheral vascular surgeons, and one of them is also the inventor of very innovative wound care products and surgical instruments to make vascular surgery procedures better and faster. I wrote and manage the clinic website and field questions from patients all over the world. I am now working with another vascular surgeon and wound care expert, which has given me an opportunity to widen my horizons as I learn another excellent physician's preferences and benefit from his experiences in this amazing specialty.

Education/Credentials
I am an LPN, licensed in Minnesota

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