[Firstline Therapy of Intermittent Claudication - Claim and Reality]

This narrative review summarizes the situation of research concerning exercise therapy in patients suffering from intermittent claudication. In depth we present the evidence-based guidelines and their underlying studies. Aspects as angiomorphology, adherence, long-term effect, quality of studies and their comparability are discussed. We focus on the gap between guidelines and therapy of healthcare providers. Therefore, we discuss the relevance of exercise therapy in healthcare policy. Reasons for the missing congruence between guidelines and the implementation in the healthcare system in Germany are analysed. According to this we express recommendations corresponding to international experiences (Netherlands, Denmark).