[Vascular exercise and vascular medical rehabilitation]

Vascular-specific sports and exercise therapy should be offered as first-line therapy to all patients with intermittent claudication, provided that the patient is able to perform this therapy. The results should be evaluated after 3-6 months in terms of quality of life, and the vascular team should then discuss the next steps on an individual basis. Supervised walking training in a vascular sports group with a trained vascular trainer is the basic therapy. Home exercise training with targets and goal-oriented monitoring is equivalent to a structured training program in terms of the walking distance achieved and should be considered if supervised walking training is not possible. The current data situation is reflected in the S3 guideline of the DGA, according to which consensus recommendations are made for the implementation of vascular-specific sports and exercise therapy. Vascular trainer training has been standardized in a 16-hour curriculum and coordinated with the vascular medicine professional associations DGA and DGG as well as the professional associations DGPR and DVGS. The corresponding courses are offered regularly with mutual recognition. Rehabilitation clinics can specialize in the treatment of patients with PAD and have this recognized by a certificate from the DGA, DGG, and DGPR as a "rehabilitation clinic with vascular expertise." The implementation of rehabilitation measures for patients with intermittent claudication at the beginning of the diagnosis could support and promote the sustainability of vascular medicine sports and exercise therapy. Training patients as part of rehabilitation measures can increase patient adherence to secondary prevention medication.