Claudication

Claudication
SpecialtyNeurology, rheumatology, vascular surgery
Treatmentadrenoceptors alpha 1/alpha 2

Claudication is a medical term usually referring to impairment in walking, or pain, discomfort, numbness, or tiredness in the legs that occurs during walking or standing and is relieved by rest.[1] The perceived level of pain from claudication can be mild to extremely severe. Claudication is most common in the calves but it can also affect the feet, thighs, hips, buttocks, or arms.[2] The word claudication comes from Latin claudicare 'to limp'.

Claudication that appears after a short amount of walking may sometimes be described by US medical professionals by the number of typical city street blocks that the patient can walk before the onset of claudication. Thus, "one-block claudication" appears after walking one block, "two-block claudication" appears after walking two blocks, etc. The term block would be understood more exactly locally but is on the order of 100 meters (328 feet).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference PMID19796387 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Peripheral Arterial Disease at The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy Professional Edition