Evaluation of toe pressure PPG measurement in diabetics with PAD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluation of toe pressure PPG measurement as a method for assessing peripheral arterial disease improvement in diabetics with claudication following a 6 week exercise programme.
IRAS ID
174255
Contact name
Michael Drinnan
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 0 days
Research summary
This research will look at diabetics suffering from intermittent claudication, i.e. pain in the legs when walking as a result of poor blood flow to the muscles. This is caused by disease of the arteries through the legs (peripheral arterial disease). One of the treatments is for patients to undergo a supervised nurse-led exercise programme for 6 weeks. This aims to improve blood flow through the legs so that patients can walk further with less pain. One way to assess peripheral arterial disease is to do an ankle-brachial pressure index test. This measures the pressure at the foot compared with the arm by inflating a pressure cuff. However, sometimes with diabetics the arteries in the leg are hardened which makes the results of this test less meaningful. In these cases it is more useful to measure the toe pressures as these blood vessels are less affected by diabetes. In this project both ankle and toe pressures will be measured in each patient before the exercise programme begins and at the end of the 6 weeks. The patient will also be asked for a detailed account of their symptoms at the time of measurement and the data will be compared with the symptoms to see which method of assessment, ankle or toe, is more in line with the state of disease. Further information can also be taken from the toe pressure assessment, in particular what is known as the systolic rise time. This can be calculated at the same time as the toe pressure and also gives a measure of disease. Basically the aim is to see whether the ankle or toe pressure assessment, or the systolic rise time is better for measuring disease improvement in diabetics completing an exercise programme by comparing the numbers obtained with the patient’s symptoms.
REC name
North East - York Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0416
Date of REC Opinion
7 Jul 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion