2016 AHA/ACC Guideline on the Management of Patients With Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease: Executive Summary: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines

. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Sep 21.

Published in final edited form as: Circulation. 2016 Nov 13;135(12):e686–e725. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000000470


Recommendations for Structured Exercise Therapy

COR	LOE	Recommendations

I	A	In patients with claudication, a supervised exercise program is recommended to improve functional status and QoL and to reduce leg symptoms.^{24–26,28–34,36,169,170}

I	B-R	A supervised exercise program should be discussed as a treatment option for claudication before possible revascularization.^24–26

IIa	A	In patients with PAD, a structured community-or home-based exercise program with behavioral change techniques can be beneficial to improve walking ability and functional status.^37,80,86,171

IIa	A	In patients with claudication, alternative strategies of exercise therapy, including upper-body ergometry, cycling, and pain-free or low-intensity walking that avoids moderate-to-maximum claudication while walking, can be beneficial to improve walking ability and functional status.^{27,173,175,176}