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 .
[Physical training and low-dose heparin-calcium in patients suffering from chronic obliterating arteriopathy of the lower limbs with intermittent claudication].
In the treatment of peripheral obliterating arteriopathy ( POA ) physical training provides clear results in terms of increased walking autonomy ; it is still not fully clear whether the positive effects of physical training can be further improved by concomitant back-up drug therapy . For this purpose 374 patients of both sexes , with a mean age of 64 years , suffering from chronic peripheral obliterating arteriopathy of the lower limbs were enrolled in a controlled open clinical trial , instructed to follow a programme of physical training and r and omly allocated to low dose treatment with heparin calcium ( 12,500 IU/day ) for 6 months . An improvement in the claudicometric parameters ( free gait interval , absolute gait interval and recovery time ) measured at constant speed and in the resting Winsor ankle/arm index of the most severely damaged limb were observed in both groups . These improvements were significantly greater in the group receiving pharmacological treatment ( p < 0.01 ) and efficacy increased in line with basal deambulatory impairment . The results obtained and the good tolerance of the drug underline the clinical efficacy of heparin calcium at low doses in association with a physical training programme in patients suffering from Fontaine 's stage II peripheral obliterating arteriopathy
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 .