Data showed improvements secondary to exercise in ' physical function ' and ' general health ' .
The other domains - ' role physical ' , ' bodily pain ' , ' vitality ' , ' social ' , ' role emotional ' , and ' mental health ' - did not show improvement at six months .
Although results showed significant heterogeneity between trials , population s and outcomes were comparable overall , with findings relevant to the claudicant population .
High- quality evidence shows that exercise programmes provided important benefit compared with placebo or usual care in improving both pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with leg pain from IC who were considered to be fit for exercise intervention .
Exercise did not improve ABI , and we found no evidence of an effect of exercise on amputation or mortality .
Exercise may improve quality of life when compared with placebo or usual care .
BACKGROUND Exercise programmes are a relatively inexpensive , low-risk option compared with other , more invasive therapies for treatment of leg pain on walking ( intermittent claudication ( IC ) ) .
This is the fourth up date of a review first published in 1998 .
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to determine whether an exercise programme was effective in alleviating symptoms and increasing walking treadmill distances and walking times in people with intermittent claudication .
Secondary objectives were to determine whether exercise was effective in preventing deterioration of underlying disease , reducing cardiovascular events , and improving quality of life .
Improvement of the walking ability in intermittent claudication due to superficial femoral artery occlusion with supervised exercise and pneumatic foot and calf compression: a randomised controlled trial.
OBJECTIVES To compare the effect of unsupervised exercise , supervised exercise and intermittent pneumatic foot and calf compression ( IPC ) on the claudication distance , lower limb arterial haemodynamics and quality of life of patients with intermittent claudication . METHODS Thirty-four eligible patients with stable intermittent claudication were r and omised to IPC ( n = 13 , 3h/d for 6 months ) , supervised exercise ( n = 12 , three hourly sessions/week for 6 months ) or unsupervised exercise ( n = 9 ) . In each patient , initial claudication distance ( ICD ) , absolute claudication distance ( ACD ) , resting ankle brachial pressure index ( ABPI ) , and resting hyperaemic calf arterial inflow were measured before , 6 weeks , 6 months and 1 year after r and omisation . Quality of life was assessed with the short form (SF)-36 , walking impairment ( WIQ ) and intermittent claudication question naires ( ICQ ) . RESULTS Compared with unsupervised exercise , both IPC and supervised exercise , increased ICD and ACD , up to 2.83 times . IPC  increased arterial inflow ( p < 0.05 at 6 weeks ) and ABPI .  Supervised exercise decreased arterial inflow and increased ABPI ( p < 0.05 at 6 months ) . Unsupervised exercise had no effect on arterial inflow or ABPI . IPC improved significantly the ICQ score and the speed score of the WIQ , while supervised exercise improved the WIQ claudication severity score . At 1 year clinical effectiveness of supervised exercise and IPC was largely preserved . CONCLUSIONS IPC , by augmenting leg perfusion , achieved improvement in walking distance comparable with supervised exercise . Long-term results in a larger number of patients will provide valuable information on the optimal treatment modality of intermittent claudication
Data showed improvements secondary to exercise in ' physical function ' and ' general health ' .
The other domains - ' role physical ' , ' bodily pain ' , ' vitality ' , ' social ' , ' role emotional ' , and ' mental health ' - did not show improvement at six months .
Although results showed significant heterogeneity between trials , population s and outcomes were comparable overall , with findings relevant to the claudicant population .
High- quality evidence shows that exercise programmes provided important benefit compared with placebo or usual care in improving both pain-free and maximum walking distance in people with leg pain from IC who were considered to be fit for exercise intervention .
Exercise did not improve ABI , and we found no evidence of an effect of exercise on amputation or mortality .
Exercise may improve quality of life when compared with placebo or usual care .
BACKGROUND Exercise programmes are a relatively inexpensive , low-risk option compared with other , more invasive therapies for treatment of leg pain on walking ( intermittent claudication ( IC ) ) .
This is the fourth up date of a review first published in 1998 .
OBJECTIVES Our goal was to determine whether an exercise programme was effective in alleviating symptoms and increasing walking treadmill distances and walking times in people with intermittent claudication .
Secondary objectives were to determine whether exercise was effective in preventing deterioration of underlying disease , reducing cardiovascular events , and improving quality of life .