Concurrent musculoskeletal pain in a patient with symptomatic lower extremity arterial insufficiency

The etiology of back and lower extremity pain can, at times, be difficult to differentiate. This is especially true in cases where two pain-producing conditions coexist. Such difficulties have been reported in cases of coexisting vascular and neurogenic claudication. We report the case of a 66-year-old woman with concurrent musculoskeletal pain and hip claudication. Her arterial insufficiency was initially masked by her diffuse pain complaints and only became apparent to us after successful treatment of her soft tissue problems. We caution physicians to be aware of coexisting musculoskeletal pain that may mask significant underlying pathology.