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 .
The effects of physical training and flunarizine on walking capacity in intermittent claudication.
The clinical significance of drugs improving red cell deformability is not confirmed . We established the effect of physical training alone and combined with flunarizine on intermittent claudication . Twelve patients aged 48 - 73 years were included in the study .  Pain-free walking distance on treadmill , ankle/arm pressure ratio and transcutaneous oxygen tension were measured . Walking distance increased significantly ( p less than 0.05 ) by 130 % from 75 m to 173 m during the first year when the patients were on programmed physical training .  Ankle/arm pressure ratio also increased significantly ( p less than 0.05 ) from 0.46 to 0.55 during this period . The increase in walking distance ceased when the programmed physical training was discontinued for 6 months . During the following double-blind , cross-over medication period the patients were given flunarizine 5 mg b.i.d . and placebos in r and omized order for 3 months each . They also continued the same programmed physical training as during the first year . Walking distance increased , albeit not significantly , with time to 392 m after the second medication period . There was no difference , however , between flunarizine and placebo .  Ankle/arm pressure ratio was of the same magnitude as at the beginning of the trial . Oxygen tension measurements did not give consistent results . We conclude that programmed physical training increased walking distance as a function of time . Flunarizine had no effect on the performance of patients with 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 .