Could you please tell me the difference between having chronic venous insufficiency and peripheral vascular disease?

Arteries vs. veins: Pvd is due to hardening of arteries of legs with pain due to activity. Venous insufficiency is due to damage to the valves in the leg veins that allow blood to return to the heart causing the legs to swell and be painful.

Veins and Arteries: Venous insufficiency involves poor return of blood flow back up the leg in the veins to the heart. Peripheral vascular disease involves poor blood flow from the heart to the ends of the toes in the arteries.

Veins vs arteries: As drs. Gupta and mitsos said, the difference has to do with what veins and arteries do. Venous insufficiency affects blood flow back to the heart. Pad affects blood flow away from the heart and out into the body. Pad pain occurs with activity, improves with rest and is better when your legs are down. Cvi worsens when your legs are down and not moving. Leg elevation helps the pain.

In vs. out flow: Chronic venous insufficiency results from valve dysfunction in the venous system. This causes the pressure in the veins just under the skin to become too high resulting in swelling of the veins. These veins enlarge and become varicose, leak water causing leg swelling, leak blood resulting in skin discoloration. Ulcers can occur. PVD is the result of blockages in the arteries supplying blood.

CVI vs PAD: Cvi refers to a disease state whereby the veins of the legs do not effectively pump the blood back to the heart. It is typically due to reflux within the veins that allows the blood to get trapped in the legs. Pvd typically is synonymous with peripheral arterial disease refers to arterial blockage not within the heart or brain which can lead to inadequate oxygen getting to an area of the body.

In vs. out flow: Chronic venous insufficiency results from valve dysfunction in the venous system. This causes the pressure in the veins just under the skin to become too high resulting in swelling of the veins. These veins enlarge and become varicose, leak water causing leg swelling, leak blood resulting in skin discoloration. Ulcers can occur. PVD is the result of blockages in the arteries supplying blood.