Applications

Critical Limb Ischemia

The term critical limb ischaemia (CLI) is used to describe patients with a typical ischaemic pain at rest (TASC II) and occurs as a manifestation of peripheral artery disease. In patients with CLI the number of capillaries is reduced, and vascular fields can be seen in patients with severe cases of the disease (Piagessi et al, 2009). As such, it is very important that patients with CLI are identified rapidly as they are at a high risk of limb loss, fatal and non-fatal vascular events (TASC II). Laser Doppler is commonly used in the testing of CLI (Norgren et al, 2007).

One such test used as an aid for the diagnosis of CLI is the calculation of toe pressure to assess distal perfusion (Ubbink et al 2004). This can be simply and rapidly achieved using the moorVMS-LDF and moorVMS-PRES, with automatic calculations of toe pressure and printable reports available with the dedicated moorVMS-PC software – further details of toe blood pressure assessments can be found here.

Table – Important measures of pressure in critical limb ischaemia (Piaggesi et al, 2009, TASC II 2007)

Equipment:

The following equipment is recommended for measurement of ABPI:

• moorVMS-LDF Laser Doppler Monitor
• moorVMS-PRES Pressure Cuff Controller
• moorVMS-PC; Dedicated PC software for automated calculations of TP and production of Reports
• Toe cuff
• Probes

- VP1T (includes temperature measurement)

References

For additional information on this Application or advice for tailoring Moor Instruments products to your specific application contact us for more information.