To use all functions of this page, please activate cookies in your browser.
my.bionity.com
With an accout for my.bionity.com you can always see everything at a glance – and you can configure your own website and individual newsletter.
- My watch list
- My saved searches
- My saved topics
- My newsletter
Peripheral vascular examinationIn medicine, the peripheral vascular examination is a series of maneuvers to elicit signs of peripheral vascular pathology. It is performed as part of a physical examination, or when a patient presents with leg pain suggestive of a cardiovascular pathology. The exam includes several parts:
Additional recommended knowledge
Position/Lighting/DrapingPosition - patient should be lying in the supine position and the bed or examination table should be flat. The patient's hands should remain at her sides with her head resting on a pillow. Lighting - adjusted so that it is ideal. Draping - the legs should be exposed, the private groin and thigh covered. Drapes are usually placed between the legs. InspectionOn inspection the physician looks for signs of:
Palpation
Arterial pulses
Auscultation
Special maneuvers
With the patient supine, note the colour of the feet soles. They should be pink. Then elevate both legs to 45 degrees for more than 1 minute. Observe the soles. If there is marked pallor (whiteness, ischemia should be suspected. Next check for rubor on dependency. Sit the patient upright and observe the feet. In normal patients, the feet quickly turn pink. If, more slowly, they turn red like a cooked lobster, suspect ischemia.
One leg at a time. With the patient supine, empty the superficial veins by 'milking' the leg in the distal to proximal direction. Now press with your thumb over the saphenofemoral junction (2cm below and 2cm lateral to the pubic tubercle) and ask the patient to stand while you maintain pressure. If the leg veins now refill rapidly, the incompentence is located below the saphenofemoral junction, and visa versa. This test can be repeated using pressure at any point along the leg until the incompetence has been mapped out. See also
Categories: Vascular surgery | Medical tests | Physical examination |
|||||||||
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Peripheral_vascular_examination". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia. |