What is claudication?


The word claudication is derived from the Latin word claudicare, meaning to limp. In medicine, claudication is used to describe pain in the legs associated with exertion. The most classic example of this is pain in the calf while walking. The pain gets worse with further exertion and is relieved with rest. usually, we see this in elderly people where they stop in the middle of the aisle in a supermarket to get pain relief from cramping. After several minutes, they can resume walking without cramping.

It is caused be a reduction in the amount of blood that gets to the legs. Most often, this is due to atherosclerosis, the same process that causes most heart attacks. When this process is present in the peripheral arteries, or arteries to the arms and legs, it is called peripheral arterial disease (PAD). When exercising, healthy individuals are able to accommodate for the increased demands of the muscles for oxygen and nutrients carried by the blood. The heart works harder and pumps more blood and at the same time the peripheral arteries dilate, resulting in an up to ten-fold increase in blood flow to the extremities. Those with PAD have resting function similar to health individuals, however they are unable to accommodate for the increased demands of exertion. Because their muscles are not getting enough blood and oxygen, these people experience the pain known as claudication. The reason PAD causes this pain is twofold. First, the plaques which form on the inner surfaces of arteries in the extremities narrow the diameter of the artery, allowing less blood to flow though. Second, these plaques also make the arteries less flexible and less able to dilate. Most claudication is intermittent (comes and goes). Claudication which is present at rest is a much more serious problem. Most commonly, the disease is located in the arteries behind the knees, or the popliteal arteries. This results in pain in the calves with exertion. If the narrowing of the arteries is located farther up in the legs, the pain can occur in the thighs or buttocks.