Effect of physical training on different categories of patients with intermittent claudication

The effect of supervised training was studied in 68 patients with intermittent claudication. Maximal walking distance was measured on a treadmill. Eight of the patients had resting pain in the leg when recumbent (group A), 25 had an initial walking distance of less than 500 m (group B), 11 had an initial walking distance of 500--1 000 m (group C), 24 had coronary insufficiency (group D). The study shows that training should be undertaken for at least three months. In some patients with resting pain, training led to relief of pain and surgical treatment was not necessary. Almost all patients without signs of coronary insufficiency increased their walking distance, compared to only 14 of the 24 patients with coronary insufficiency. Walking distance increased significantly in groups B and C and no significant difference was found between patients and proximal or distal arterial stenosis.