The role of ankle brachial index in detecting peripheral arterial diseases

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a disorder characterized by decreased blood flow to the limbs, due to an obstruction or narrowing of the vessels tributaries. The concept of PAD has a broader meaning, including the impairment of the carotid arteries, vertebral, renal and mesenteric, but not including aortic diseases.Most epidemiological studies have used ankle- brachial index (ABI) as a diagnostic method for PAD. Aim of the study: To determine whether ankle brachial pressure index is a valuable test to diagnose peripheral arterial disease. Methodology: The study was conducted from (January- October )2021. The study setting included 60 persons aged 40 years and above. The samples were selected using probability sampling (systematic random selection). Each person asked about the presence of risk factors for atherosclerosis and presence of peripheral arterial disease symptoms, then the brachial pressure was measured using a sphygmomanometer and a stethoscope, while the ankle pressure was measured bilaterally using a sphygmomanometer and pulse detection. Results: The results in the present study revealed that 29 (48.3%) had normal ABI value, 5 (8.3%) had acceptable ABI value, 8 (13.3%) had some arterial diseases, 13 (21.6%) had moderate arterial diseases, 3 (5%) had severe arterial diseases, 2 (3.3%) had vessel hardening and 8 (13.3%) had bilateral leg arterial diseases.