Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)
What is Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT)?
Deep vein thrombosis is called “killer legs” because it can strike with little or no warning. In about half the cases, there are no symptoms. But DVT can strike anyone bedridden for long periods of time due to illness or recovery from surgery, as well as anyone who has had a stroke, cancer, heart attack, hip or leg fractures or takes birth control pills. Others at risk include anyone who is immobile for long periods of time: those on long airplane trips, long-distance truckers, even nursing home residents.
DVT vein thrombosis (DVT) is a condition of the blood veins. The deep veins near the center of the leg do most of the work of the venous system. Nearly all (85%) of the circulating blood is returned to the heart through these veins.
DVT involves the formation of a blood clot – or thrombus – in any one of these veins. Usually the clot forms suddenly and without warning. If left untreated, it can cause severe swelling in the legs, limiting circulation. DVT can also lead to valve damage in the vein and a chronic condition called venous stasis disease.
The most significant danger is a blood clot can break loose, travel through the heart and become trapped in the lung (a pulmonary embolism), which can be fatal.
Clots that interfere with the normal flow of blood or affect organs vital to health require diagnosis and early treatment to avoid serious illness or death.
Complications from DVT kill up to 200,000 people a year – more than AIDS and breast cancer combined.
What causes DVT?
Sitting still or lying down for long periods of time can slow the flow of blood (long airplane flights or road trips, prolonged bed rest after surgery or injury), ultimately contributing to the formation of blood clots. Trauma to the leg can also trigger DVT.
Prolonged periods of inactivity can cause clotting factors (substances in the blood that regulate the formation of clots) to increase after an operation or injury, or during pregnancy.
Birth control pills may increase a woman’s risk of forming blood clots. Also, severe infection, an increase in red cells, some types of cancer and an injury to the vein itself are factors that can contribute to blood clot formation.
Other risk factors include:
- A family history
- Increasing age that results in loss of elasticity in veins and their valves
- Hypertension
- Diabetes
- High cholesterol or other cardiovascular health conditions
- Smoking
- Obesity
What are the symptoms of DVT?
Only half of those who develop DVT have symptoms. When they do occur, they include:
- Swelling in leg
- Pain or tenderness
- Increased warmth
- Red or discolored skin or hardened area on legs
What treatment is available?
Traditional treatments include:
- Bed rest
- Elevation of affected limb
- Pressure stockings
- Drugs called anticoagulants, or “clot-busting” drugs, that prevent blood clotting and keep existing clot from enlarging
- Thrombolysis – a noninvasive procedure using “clot-busting” drugs to dissolve existing clots that cannot be dissolved over time by the body.
- For the most serious cases, there are other, more aggressive treatments available.
For more information on vascular conditions from the Society of Interventional Radiology, click here www.sirweb.org or from the Vascular Disease Foundation at www.vdf.org
