[The practice guideline 'Peripheral vascular disease' (first revision) from the Dutch College of General Practitioners: a response from the perspective of general practice].
The practice guideline 'Peripheral vascular disease' (PVD) from the Dutch College of General Practitioners will certainly be of benefit to the Dutch general practitioner. Its limited set of simple diagnostic steps can help the general practitioner to assess or exclude PVD in patients with intermittent claudication. The inclusion of a pretest-posttest probability scheme enhances a clear diagnostic process. This guideline differs from the previous one in one important aspect. This guideline deals not only with the specific management of peripheral arterial disease but also with the management of cardiovascular risk in general. In this way the guideline follows the recently changed international attitude reflected in the European Guidelines on cardiovascular disease prevention. Smoking cessation and exercise therapy continues to be the cornerstone as well as the stumbling block of management of most cases of PVD in general practice; a challenge for every general practitioner.
Stalman
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WA
VU Medisch Centrum, afd. Huisartsgeneeskunde, Amsterdam.
D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D010821:Physicians, Family; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D016540:Smoking Cessation; D012955:Societies, Medical