A University of the Sunshine Coast trial is offering a new path to post-surgery recovery from peripheral artery disease (PAD), a condition that affects more than a million Australians.
PAD occurs when arteries in the legs become blocked, with symptoms ranging from pain and difficulty walking, to gangrene and the need for amputation in severe cases. It also carries a high risk of heart attack or stroke.
Surgery can bypass or unblock the arteries, but this does not fully restore walking capability or address the often lifestyle-related root cause. Twenty-five percent of patients are readmitted to hospital within a year.
The Saving Legs and Lives trial, in collaboration with the Sunshine Coast Health Institute and Sunshine Coast University Hospital, hopes to address this by placing PAD surgery patients in cardiac rehabilitation programs, alongside heart surgery patients.
UniSC Exercise Physiology Professor Chris Askew said it offers an evidence-based solution with the potential to drastically improve patient outcomes.
"Supervised exercise programs are the gold standard for PAD treatment and greatly improve outcomes post-surgery. But referrals are hard to get, and there are only two dedicated programs for vascular patients in Queensland," he said.
Patient undergoing health assessment and guided exercise with UniSC staff member.
"Cardiac rehabilitation programs are more common with many similarities between the recovery process of patients with heart disease and PAD.
"We're trialling including PAD surgery patients in these cardiac rehab programs to determine if it has a positive impact on their recovery, particularly their vascular function.
"Ultimately, we want to understand whether cardiac rehabilitation can reduce re-hospitalisation rates and lead to long term benefits for patients."
UniSC PhD candidate Krist Feka said eligible participants would take part in an adapted version of the Sunshine Coast Health Cardiac Rehabilitation program at Vitality Village in Birtinya.
"We're looking for people who've undergone leg vascular surgery for PAD in the past 12 months, or who are scheduled for surgery in the next few months," he said.
"Over six weeks, they'll undergo some basic health assessments at UniSC and attend twice-weekly guided exercise and education sessions at Vitality Village, followed by a final assessment," he said.
If successful, Professor Askew believes it has the potential to be expanded nationally, allowing more patients with vascular disease to receive the best possible care following surgery.
"Preliminary results from initial patients referred to the trial by local cardiologist and vascular surgeons are extremely promising."
