What is thrombosis and what are the signs of thrombosis?
Thrombosis is a vascular occlusion caused by a blood clot. Theoretically, thrombosis can develop in all blood vessels – leg vein thrombosis usually occurs in the deep veins, but there are z. B. also arm and anal thrombosis. The signs of thrombosis include pain, swelling and red or bluish skin discoloration. You can find out everything about thrombosis in your arm here.
Thrombosis can become very dangerous: the thrombus (including blood clots or blood clots) can come loose and migrate to other organs. For example, the clot can clog a pulmonary artery, causing pulmonary embolism – This is noticeable through shortness of breath and is life-threatening. The emergency doctor must be called immediately!
Recognize thrombosis signs correctly
There are some very clear symptoms of thrombosis. You should know the following signs of thrombosis:
- Swelling, especially on the calf, but also on the ankle or foot.
- Pain, especially in the lower leg, but also in the foot or groin. The symptoms are often reminiscent of sore muscles.
- The leg feels heavy and tense.
- There are visible skin veins ("warning veins").
- The skin shines and is bluish or reddish in color.
- The lower leg feels overheated.
- The pulse is unusually fast.
- The patient has a mild fever.
- With arm thrombosis, the veins of the arm become more prominent, the hand swells, and it often causes more pain than the thrombosis in the leg.
- An anal thrombosis causes very painful swelling in the anus area.
Do I always have to call a doctor if I suspect thrombosis?
Symptoms do not appear in all thromboses – nor is it automatically a thrombosis if all signs of thrombosis are present. In any case, the symptoms should be observed and examined immediately by a doctor.
Causes: How does thrombosis develop?
Thrombosis is mostly caused by a combination of different factors. This includes one's own lifestyle, hereditary and external factors. The following causes and risk factors exist:
- Coagulation disorders
- Decreased ability to dissolve blood clots
- Food or medicines that affect blood clotting – for example the pill and other hormonal contraceptives
- pregnancy
- dehydration
- Dilated veins and varicose veins
- Immobility, e.g. B. by bedriddenness after an accident
- Sitting for a long time
- Unusually heavy physical exertion
- Damage to the vessel walls, e.g. B. from accidents or inflammation
- diabetes
- Smoke
- operations
- overweight
- substance abuse
- Previous thrombosis
- cancers
- Height (in fact, taller people are at higher risk of thrombosis)
Therapy: how is thrombosis treated?
Depending on where the thrombosis is located, various measures are taken to treat it. During treatment, the most important thing is to prevent a thrombus from detaching from the vein wall and moving through the bloodstream. However, the thrombosis can also cause irreparable damage at its point of origin. The following treatments are useful for signs of thrombosis:
- Raise the affected limb (e.g. leg or arm).
- Put on a compression bandage that reduces blood congestion – the bandage should protrude significantly beyond the thrombosis. If, for example, the lower leg is affected, the bandage (taut but not constricting) is applied over the knee. Special thrombosis stockings are even better.
- Medicines to prevent the blood clot from growing and moving.
- At best, the drug helps the body dissolve the thrombus.
- In young patients in particular, an initial thrombosis is often attempted surgically to remove the clot.
Acute thrombosis treatment lasts about five to ten days. Then the so-called maintenance therapy starts. Those affected are given a medication to prevent a new blood clot and have to take this for three to six months. In addition, the so-called blood coagulation values must be checked regularly. Many patients are also advised to continue wearing the special thrombosis stockings.