Vasculitis treatment

When it comes to vasculitis, many people may have many questions. Of course, this article contains the basic information about vasculitis as well as the pathogenesis, causes, treatment methods, etc. In fact, the so-called vasculitis is actually the abbreviation of thromboangiitis obliterans in medicine. Vasculitis is a rare disease, and its onset is chronic, so it is relatively difficult to treat.

Vasculitis generally occurs below the legs, and when it occurs, symptoms such as unbearable limb pain and inflammation often occur. The cause of vasculitis is still unclear and is still under investigation. Now let’s introduce in detail how to treat vasculitis correctly and effectively.

Vasculitis is more common in young and middle-aged people, and is more common in the lower limbs. The affected limb shows temporary or persistent pallor, cyanosis, burning and tingling. The skin turns red when the affected limb is hanging and turns white when it is raised. It is followed by numbness of the toes and pain in the calf muscles. The pain is stimulated when walking and disappears when resting. Superficial phlebitis and edema often occur in the calf. During the examination, it was found that the dorsalis pedis artery pulse was weakened or disappeared. As the disease progresses, intermittent claudication and Raynaud's phenomenon may occur, pain may intensify at night, the toes may become extremely painful, the skin may become cyanotic, and then the toe tips may ulcerate or become gangrenous and turn black, gradually spreading to the proximal end.

There are currently two treatments for vasculitis:

1. Medication

(1) Dextran-40: Dextran with a molecular weight of 5,000 to 20,000 is administered by intravenous drip. Long-term use may cause bleeding and is not suitable for use in the acute development stage or in ulcer gangrene accompanied by secondary infection.

(2) Vasodilators include tolazoline hydrochloride, niacin, and benzylamine hydrochloride.

(3) Antibiotics: When there is local or systemic infection, choose appropriate antibiotics for treatment.

(4) Glucocorticoids may be considered in the acute phase of the disease, with daily oral prednisone or intravenous hydrocortisone.

(5) Analgesics: For patients with significant pain, various analgesics can be used, or procaine acupuncture injection, intravenous blockade or femoral artery periartery blockade, or even lumbar sympathetic ganglion block or epidural anesthesia can be performed.

(6) For local treatment, sterile bandage can be used to prevent infection in dry gangrene, and Kangfuxin dressing can be applied externally for ulcers.

2. Surgery

If non-surgical treatment fails, lumbar sympathectomy, great saphenous vein graft bypass or arterial thromboendarterectomy can be performed. When the boundaries of extremity necrosis are limited, the wound is expanded under sterile conditions and the necrotic tissue is removed. For those who have developed finger (toe) tip gangrene, finger (toe) amputation should be considered.

Smoking is not allowed. Protect your feet from cold and dampness, avoid trauma, and prevent limb vascular spasms. Change your body position appropriately when working to prevent prolonged compression of blood vessels in the limbs and affecting blood circulation.

While taking medication or surgery to treat vasculitis, we must also pay attention to keeping our diet light as much as possible, and if possible, go out for a walk more often and do appropriate aerobic exercise. Because only in this way can we restore our health as soon as possible and get rid of the troubles of illness.