The role of tobacco cessation, antiplatelet and lipid-lowering therapies in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease.

Despite the widely held belief that there are no effective medical therapies for peripheral arterial disease (PAD), current data suggest that medical therapies can effectively modify the natural history of atherosclerotic lower extremity arterial occlusive disease. The ideal medical therapy would improve claudication, forestall the onset of limb-threatening events, decrease rates of invasive interventional therapies and improve long-term patient survival. These ideal outcomes might be achieved through the use of smoking cessation interventions, including behavioral and pharmacological therapy, and the administration of antiplatelet and lipid-lowering medications in patients with PAD.