Perfusion Mrs Gloria reports that she is having increasing difficulty because she experiences severe pain in her calf muscles after walking for more than a city block. The pain subsides if she...

Perfusion

Mrs Gloria reports that she is having increasing difficulty because she experiences severe pain in her calf muscles after walking for more than a city block. The pain subsides if she rests for a few minutes, but returns with activity. Her feet are cool and pale; pedal and posterior tibial pulses are not palpable, and femoral pulses are difficult to palpate. She lives in a downtown apartment and uses public transportation to travel across town to visit her husband’s grave weekly.

1. What are the circulatory causes of her leg pain? Which risk factors would you expect to find in her history to support this conclusion?


2. The doctor suggests that Mrs Gloria cease her visits to the cemetery since she has to walk a long way there to reach the grave site. Would you agree with this plan? Why or why not? What considerations or viewpoints influence your choice?


3. Mrs Gloria says that she wears support stockings because her friend told her they help the circulation in her legs. How would you respond to this information?