ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a vascular surgery point-of-care ultrasound assessment of the lower limb arterial system. A lower limb arterial duplex scan can be incredibly helpful in the assessment of vascular patients. The muscle group that cramps is related to the site of the arterial disease. Chronic limb-threatening ischaemia represents the severe end of the arterial disease spectrum. Monophonic suggests severe arterial disease, biphasic suggests moderate arterial disease and triphasic suggests normal arterial flow. For Superficial femoral artery (SFA) disease the classical area for claudication pain is the calf. These patients may demonstrate signs of chronic low-level ischaemia, e.g., poor hair growth, muscle wasting. Typical sites include the SFA, popliteal artery and/or the crural vessels. Sometimes a large embolus can lodge at the aortic bifurcation and lead to complete occlusion of both iliac arteries, resulting in bilateral lower limb ischaemia.
