ABSTRACT
Health-care professionals frequently encounter patients with lower extremity wounds, many of which may be recalcitrant and refractory to therapy. Venous disease, arterial insufficiency, neuropathy, and a broad category of miscellaneous causes, such as pyoderma gangrenosum, vasculitis, and malignancy, should be considered. In this chapter, we will focus on arterial disease and describe how the healthcare provider is in a unique situation to diagnose and treat not only an entity that may be causing or delaying healing in lower extremity wounds, but also an entity that is a part of a systemic process that has serious implications to those affected.
