Claudication is best described as which of the following?

• A. Painful swelling due to venous obstruction
• B. Pain worsens with rest and improves with activity
• C. A mismatch where skeletal muscle oxygen demand exceeds supply during activity
• D. Numbness in the feet at rest

Answer: (C)

Claudication arises when exercising leg muscles demand more oxygen than the arteries can supply because of arterial disease. During walking, the oxygen demand climbs, but the blood flow cannot increase adequately, leading to muscle ischemia and pain that stops you from continuing. Rest restores blood flow and pain relief follows, which is the hallmark pattern of intermittent claudication. This makes the statement about a mismatch between skeletal muscle oxygen demand and supply during activity the best fit, since it directly ties the symptom to the underlying vascular limitation.

The other descriptions point to different problems: painful swelling from venous obstruction suggests a venous issue like deep vein problems rather than arterial insufficiency; numbness at rest points toward a neural issue or neuropathy; pain that worsens with rest and improves with activity aligns more with rest pain or neurogenic claudication rather than exertional, ischemic claudication.