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Pain associated with vascular disease
Last reviewed: 07.07.2025
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Pain associated with vascular diseases can occur in the following conditions.
- Functional vascular disorders (vasomotor pain):
- vasospasm primary or secondary (Raynaud's syndrome, acrocyanosis, ergotism):
- vasodilation (erythromelalgia).
- Obliterating vascular diseases:
- arterial (including mainly peripheral or organ vessels): arteritis, angiitis, diabetic angiopathy;
- venous (phlebitis, thrombophlebitis, deep vein thrombosis);
- lymphatic (inflammatory, parasitic).
- Microcirculation disorders (vascular pathology or changes in the rheological properties of the blood).
- Hereditary syndromes (Marfan, Ehlers-Danlos, Milroy and many others).
- Compression of the vessel (scars, tumors), injuries.
- Mixed options.
Embolic arterial occlusions are caused by an unexpected blockage of the artery lumen by an embolus. Emboli are most often formed in the heart. The conditions for their formation in the heart are prolonged atrial flutter due to its defects, congestive dilated cardiomyopathy, sick sinus syndrome, infective endocarditis (emboli are often small, septic), myxomas (tumor emboli).
The second most common is arterioarterial embolism. Thrombi in arteries are formed during aneurysms, after catheterization, with high eosinophilia. Very rarely, emboli migrate from veins (cross embolism during arteriovenous fistulas, bypass grafts). Thrombi in the heart, emboli in large and medium-caliber arteries are well detected by echography, emboli in small arteries are usually detected angiographically.
Arterial embolism manifests itself as sharp pain with a clear onset. The pain occurs almost simultaneously, but is noted by the patient a little later. Ischemic syndrome develops (paleness and coldness of the limb, decreased motor activity up to loss of function). If the embolus has blocked the blood flow through a large artery (for example, the femoral), then only emergency surgery can prevent gangrene of the limb.
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