East Lothian CTACS offer an Ankle Brachial Pressure Index (ABPI /‘doppler’) service to help support clinicians in the diagnosis and management of the relevant chronic diseases.
Depending on the referral details, the CTACS Nursing team will see the patient and undertake either:
- ABPI only or
- ABPI + leg measurements.
Correspondence regarding the results/interpretation and measurements (if requested) will be returned to the requesting clinician via Trak directly into DOCMAN (as with other outpatient letters).
Please note:
Whilst ABPI is an important aspect of the assessment process it is only part of the overall holistic assessment of a patient and should not be used in isolation or as a sole diagnostic tool to base decisions. It is the responsibility of the referring clinician to make further decisions on management including any prescribing decisions following return of results. CTACS are unable to offer prescribing recommendations on compression hosiery, other than for those patients currently being managed within CTACS on a wound management pathway (see below).
The CTACS team will undertake ABPI to support care plans around wound and leg ulcer management for individuals in their care.
This service is for routine referrals only and does not accept urgent referrals.
C.M & K.C 25-04-24
Who can refer:
Referral is by clinician only.
Referring clinicians should advise patients at point of referral that they will be added to a waiting list and the service will be in touch when an appointment becomes available.
Who to refer:
The indications for referral to the CTACS are:
- Where there is diagnostic uncertainty of Peripheral Arterial Disease and ABPI would support diagnosis and management decisions. Please note ABPI measurement is not routinely required in the presence of a convincing history and clinical examination as outlined on Refhelp: Intermittent Claudication – RefHelp (nhslothian.scot)
- As part of assessment and management of leg ulcer/wound: Ulcer – Leg and Foot – RefHelp (nhslothian.scot)
- When considering compression hosiery as part of management of venous skin changes
- When repeat ABPI and leg remeasurement are required to support ongoing use of compression hosiery – please note due to service pressures this should not be requested more than once in a 12-month period.
Who not to refer:
- Those requiring urgent assessment – the service accepts routine referrals only
- Lymphoedema – refer to relevant service Lymphoedema/Chronic Oedema – RefHelp (nhslothian.scot)
- Repeat referrals early than 12 months after previous ABPI.
- Requests for CTACS to provide recommendations on compression hosiery
- When class 1 compression is being considered – ABPI is not required for this purpose.
- Patient is housebound
- Patient is medical or physically unsuitable to tolerate procedure (please email clinical inbox if there is any uncertainty about a specific patient scenario and the clinical team can advise)
How to refer:
The ABPI referral form which must be completed in full and sent in word format into CTACS mailbox. It can be uploaded to Vision correspondence to support a more efficient process.
