Key Symptoms Of Peripheral Vascular Disease

Foot Or Leg Ulcers

An individual who has foot or leg ulcers may be affected by peripheral vascular disease. Mechanisms such as plaque buildup in the arteries can cause an insufficient supply of blood to the muscle, nerve, and skin tissues of the affected limb or limbs. Blood carries oxygen to the cells of the skin tissues by moving through the large arteries and then further into their tributaries. Those tributaries split into small capillaries that directly feed blood to the skin and fatty layer underneath it. When a patient's peripheral vascular disease causes the larger arteries and their tributaries to become blocked or narrowed, it can make it difficult for blood to make its way to the tissues of the skin. Reduced blood supply can cause a process known as ischemia in the skin tissues, or severe oxygen deprivation. Individual cells begin to die, causing the skin tissue to decay in a focal area. This necrosis results in the development of an ulcer or sore on the affected leg or foot.

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