DON’T LET A CLOT

RUIN YOUR LIFE

Thrombosis – or blood clots - kill more than 25,000 people every year. This is higher than the number of deaths from infections such as MRSA and clostridium difficile, yet there is generally very little publicity about clots.

Blood clots are nature’s way of stopping excessive bleeding from an injury to a vein or an artery. The clots should form outside the blood vessel and it is when they form inside the vein or artery that things become dangerous.

Clots occur especially in the deep leg veins than run through the muscles of the calf and thigh and when this happens, the condition is called deep vein thrombosis or DVT. It usually occurs in just one leg. Generally you will notice something is wrong, some pain, swelling, tenderness, or perhaps redness particularly at the back of your leg below the knee. Sometimes, however, there are no early symptoms at all.

Causes

Immobility or lack of movement can greatly increase the chances of a blood clot because it slows the blood flow in your veins. Nowadays it is quite common practice to wear special socks for long flights and passengers are encouraged to walk around every so often to keep the blood flow moving. In hospital after an operation, there is also increased risk of thrombosis because of lack of movement and today many patients are given a daily injection of heparin to reduce the chances of getting a DVT.  If you are immobile, or sit down for long periods every day, or if you are taking long journeys by train or car, there can also be an increased risk.

A good preventative measure is raising your legs when you are resting. This helps relieve the pressure in the veins of your calf and stops the blood and fluid from pooling in the calf itself. Ideally, you need to rest your leg with your foot higher than your hip and this will assist the returning blood flood back from your calf.

Sometimes you may not be aware you have DVT at all and only realise something is wrong when the condition has developed into an embolism. This is when a part of the clot breaks off and travels around the body eventually blocking an artery.  An example of this is a pulmonary embolism when part of the clot from a deep vein thrombosis breaks off, moves up the leg, through the heart and lodges in a lung artery or pulmonary artery.  A pulmonary embolism or clot in the lung can cause breathlessness, chest pain and even collapse.

Both DVT and pulmonary embolisms are serious conditions that need urgent treatment.

The usual treatment for DVT involves using the anticoagulant medicines, heparin and warfarin. The correct dose is important to ensure that the blood does not clot too easily but also isn’t thinned too much which could cause excessive bleeding.

Treatment isn’t necessarily for life, and will depend on your doctor’s view of the risk of you getting another DVT in the future.

Lifeblood – the Thrombosis Charity

Lifeblood is an active charity in the UK established by a group of people in 2002 who felt there was a real need to promote awareness about thrombosis and to increase knowledge and understanding about what it is and the treatments available.

They have a useful website on www.thrombosis-charity.org.uk or you can contact Annya Stephens-Boal, the Chief Executive of Lifeblood, by writing to her at:

The Thrombosis & Haemostasis Centre

Level 1, North Wing

St Thomas' Hospital

London, UK

SE1 7EH

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