Treatment With Pharmacological Agents in Peripheral Arterial Disease Patients Does Not Result in Biomechanical Gait Changes

• Autores: Jessie M. Huisinga, Iraklis I. Pipinos, Nicholas Stergiou, Jason M. Johanning
• Localización: Journal of applied biomechanics, ISSN-e 1543-2688, ISSN 1065-8483, Vol. 26, Nº. 3, 2010, págs. 341-348
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Pharmacological treatment has been used to alleviate the claudication symptoms and improve walking performance in peripheral arterial disease (PAD) patients. However, the effects of claudication treatments on gait mechanics have not been objectively indentified with biomechanical techniques. For this study, 20 PAD patients were assigned to take either pentoxifylline (n = 11) or cilostazol (n = 9), the two FDA-approved pharmacological therapies used to treat intermittent claudication symptoms. All patients completed a gait evaluation protocol that involved the acquisition of kinematic and kinetic gait data before use of the medication and after 12 weeks of treatment. Results showed that treatment with either pentoxifylline or cilostazol resulted in limited overall improvement in gait parameters including joint angles and joint moments. Walking speed was unchanged, in either treatment group, as a result of the medication. These results suggest that to improve biomechanical walking parameters of PAD patients, clinicians cannot rely on drug therapies alone