The Diagnosis and Treatment of Peripheral Arterial Vascular Disease

Background In peripheral arterial occlusive disease (PAOD), arterial stenosis or occlusion impairs perfusion in the territory of the distal portion of the aorta and the iliac and leg arteries. In Germany, the prevalence of PAOD rises with age, reaching 20% among persons over age 70. Methods This guideline was prepared by a collaboration of 22 medical specialty societies and two patient self-help organizations on the basis of pertinent publications that were retrieved by a systematic search in PubMed for articles that appeared from 2008 to April 2014, with a subsequent update to May 2015. Results 294 articles were assessed, including 34 systematic reviews and 98 randomized controlled trials …