Is angioplasty a good option for claudication?

So one of the management options for claudication is angioplasty. Can you please tell us what this entails? Certainly, so angioplasty seems like a great option for people with claudication because we can stretch open the arteries and open up the narrowings of the arteries. There is a risk associated with angioplasty and the risk is greater with certain patterns of disease. So it's really important to be able to personalize the care that you're receiving based on your own set of blood vessels and what they look like on the inside and we do that with scans. In terms of angioplasty there are there is good data to suggest now that you will be able to walk further for the first 18 months following angioplasty. However the trial data suggests that at about 18 months your walking distance if you have an angioplasty will be equivalent to a person who engaged in supervised exercise alone. So yes you will walk further but there is a return to your path had you not had the angioplasty by 18 months and you do take a risk of having a procedure at the same time. So I think the important point here is that you know both options are reasonable but the treatment options need to be personalized to you, you need to be fully informed with the risks you're taking and the potential benefit that you might achieve.