PERIPHERAL ARTERY DISEASE (PAD)
Non-Surgical PAD Specialists in North Dallas & Frisco, TX
Stop the cycle of progressive leg pain, cramping, and fatigue without undergoing open vascular surgery.
At Advantage Vascular, we offer state-of-the-art, minimally invasive outpatient procedures that target the root cause of Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD), restricted blood flow caused by plaque buildup.
Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) is a common, progressive circulatory condition in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to your limbs—most frequently your legs. While often dismissed as a normal part of aging or basic muscle soreness, the true source of chronic leg pain is systemic atherosclerosis, which is the gradual, chronic accumulation of lipid-rich plaque within the arterial walls.
As these plaque deposits harden and expand, they create a severe bottleneck for oxygen-rich blood trying to reach your lower extremities. This restricted blood supply creates a state of chronic ischemia (oxygen deprivation) in the muscles.
This is what triggers the burning, cramping, and heavy pain (claudication). If left untreated, PAD can progress from painful walking to resting pain, non-healing foot ulcers, tissue loss, and an elevated risk of severe cardiovascular events like heart attacks or strokes.
What is PAD?
What are the Symptoms & Risk Factors of PAD
Key Symptoms to Watch For
PAD presentation can range from entirely asymptomatic to debilitating pain. The most common clinical signs include:
Intermittent Claudication: Fatigue, discomfort, cramping, or vascular pain in the calf, thigh, or buttock muscles that is consistently induced by walking or exertion and resolved within 10 minutes of rest .
Leg Pain & Cramping: Up to 50% of patients experience leg pain and cramping when walking, leg numbness and tingling.
Ischemic Rest Pain: An advanced symptom manifesting as burning pain or numbness in the toes, forefoot, or ankle that often awakens patients at night when the legs are flat or elevated.
Physical Alterations: Cool skin, diminished or absent lower extremity pulses, color changes in the legs, slow capillary refill, shiny skin, loss of leg hair, or structural leg muscle atrophy.
Non-healing Wounds: As PAD progresses, the development of non-healing wounds is likely. This is due to insufficient blood flow to the feet and calves from plaque build up in the arteries. If left untreated this can develop into Gangrene and will likely lead to amputation.
What are the Risk Factors for PAD
Lifestyle Changes & Medication
The first step in treating mild disease with limited symptoms is to stop smoking, get regular exercise, eat a health diet.
Medicines to treat peripheral artery disease may include statins to lower “bad” cholesterol, and medicines to control blood pressure, diabetes, blood clots and leg pain.
Endovascular Treatments
Procedures to treat peripheral artery disease (PAD) or its symptoms may include:
There are several methods to opening the blockages inside the arteries including Balloon Angioplasty, Stent Placement and Atherectomy.
Atherectomy
Atherectomy is the removal of plaque from inside the artery to allow for more blood flow. This is done prior to balloon and stenting and used when the plaque is very hard or calcified, the blockage is in an awkward spot or when standard balloons or stents might not fully expand due to the buildup.
Bypass Surgery
If stents and balloons have been unsuccessful then bypass surgery is needed. Through a small incision and using an existing vein or a graft, the surgeon will attach the graft above and below the blockage restoring flow to the leg. The recovery is typically a few days in the hospital and several weeks at home.
Sources:
American Academy of Family Physicians [AAFP]. (2013). Diagnosis and treatment of peripheral arterial disease. American Family Physician, 88(5), 306-310.
American Academy of Family Physicians [AAFP]. (2019). Lower extremity peripheral artery disease: Diagnosis and treatment. American Family Physician, 99(6), 362-369.
Golledge, J., & Drovandi, A. (2021). Evidence-based recommendations for medical management of peripheral artery disease. Journal of Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis, 28(6), 573-583.
Patel, M. R., Conte, M. S., Cutlip, D. E., Dib, N., Geraghty, P., Gray, W., Hiatt, W. R., Ho, M., Ikeda, K., Ikeno, F., Jaff, M. R., Jones, W. S., Kawahara, M., Lookstein, R. A., Mehran, R., Misra, S., Norgren, L., Olin, J. W., Povsic, T. J., Rosenfield, K., Rundback, J., Shamoun, F., Tcheng, J., Tsai, T. T., & Suzuki, Y. (2015). Evaluation and treatment of patients with lower extremity peripheral artery disease. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 65(9), 931-941.
StatPearls. (2026a). Peripheral arterial disease (Etiology, history and physical evaluation). StatPearls Publishing; NCBI Bookshelf.
StatPearls. (2026b). Peripheral arterial disease (Treatment, management and complications). StatPearls Publishing; NCBI Bookshelf.
Peripheral Artery Disease is most prevalent in people over 50 with a history of:
Smoking
Claudication
Diabetes
Non-healing wounds
Gangrene
Hypertension
High Cholesterol
History of Heart Disease
History of Stroke
Discoloration of limbs