Abstract
The objective of the present guideline is to provide evidence-based, comprehensive and optimal care recommendations for patients with atherosclerotic peripheral artery disease (PAD) of the lower limbs. The guideline is meant to aid medical personnel and patients in making decisions regarding the optimal diagnostic and therapeutic measures for patients with PAD, and to aid with action and decision routes, which may be modified in justified cases.
Guidelines established by scientific medical societies are not legally binding for physicians and may thus neither cause liability nor release physicians from liability. What legally constitutes a medical standard in the treatment of a given individual can only be determined individually.
The present guideline thus does not relieve physicians from their obligation to individually manage their patients by appraising their patients' overall situation. The present guideline aims to compile the most significant evidence and information on the treatment of peripheral arterial disorders from various specialties to offer the reader reliable assistance in everyday practical clinical life.