What treatments are available for intermittent claudication?
The three main treatments available for intermittent claudication are: • Exercise.Your doctor may advise an exercise program. • Medication.Your doctor may prescribe a medicationsuch as cilostazol. (See Who should not take cilostazol?) • Surgery. Your doctor may recommend a surgical procedure to bypass the blocked segment of the artery. Another procedure is called a percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. In this procedure, a catheter(a flexible tube) is inserted into the artery to reduce the blockage and improve blood flow. How does cilostazol work? • The exact way that many drugs work is not well understood. Although how cilostazol works is not completely clear, its main effects are to dilate (widen) the arteries supplying blood to the legs and to decrease the ability of platelets in the blood to stick together. Platelets are particles that circulate in the blood and play a role in clotting. • Cilostazol may reduce the leg pain that patients with intermittent claudication experience, a
