Fig. 4

Time course of VascuQOL and its domains. Among the VascuQOL group, white square shows the non-CLI group (N = 14). Black triangle represents the CLI group (N = 8). A before the first LDL-A. C at tenth LDL-A. D 1 month after completion of LDL-A treatment. a–f At starting point (point A), the average score of VascuQOL was lower in the CLI group, but not reaching statistical significance (P = 0.07). “Symptom” and “Emotional” were significantly lower in the CLI group than those in the non-CLI group. After LDL-A started, the average score of VascuQOL (a) increased successively until 1 month after completion of LDL-A treatment, especially in the CLI group. “Symptom” (c) and “Pain” (d) improved in both groups, and “Activity” (b) and “Emotional” (e) increased significantly in the CLI group at 1 month after completion of LDL-A treatment. g, h Among the VascuQOL group, SPP (h) improved significantly until 1 month after completion of LDL-A treatment in the non-CLI group, but the peak was at tenth LDL-A. Contrary to this, ABI (g) rather got worse, especially in the CLI group. All values are expressed as mean ± SD. *P < 0.01. **P < 0.05