Blood clots - how to recognize and check blood vessels for blood clots

Blood clots - how to recognize them and what to do if they are found?

This question is being asked by many. The occurrence of blood clots often leads to the development of serious diseases. The number of patients facing this problem is constantly growing. In the development of thrombosis, only one pathological process is always guilty - blood stagnation.

But the disease manifests itself in different ways. Thrombosis is a very dangerous disease. To get medical help on time, you need to be able to recognize it in time.

A thrombus is a dense blood clot formed in the lumen of a vessel. There are several causes of blood clots. One of them is inflammation of the vein wall (thrombophlebitis). Middle-aged women are especially susceptible to the disease.

Basically thrombophlebitis occurs in the legs. But sometimes, the manifestation of the disease in other blood vessels is possible. The process of a blood clot in this disease is as follows. First, the inflammatory process begins, caused by the penetration of pathogens into the wall of the blood vessel.

The inflammation then spreads to the inner lining of the blood vessel. The site of inflammation is perceived by the blood coagulation system as a degeneration that can provoke bleeding. Platelets begin to settle on the inflamed surface of the inner lining of the vein, on them - other blood cells, blood clotting factors. As a result, a blood clot appears at the site of inflammation.

Another cause of thrombosis is poor circulation and, as a result, stagnation of blood in the deep veins of the legs. This happens to people who are sedentary. For example, the paralyzed, those who are in the hospital for a long time due to a long operation, and others.

The same is observed in patients with atrial fibrillation. Often, the disease is accompanied by blood stasis in some parts of the heart muscle. Such congestion leads to the formation of blood clots.

In addition to the cases of thrombosis described earlier, the process of thrombus formation can be triggered:

• The presence of a malignant tumor, Hughes syndrome, some chronic infectious diseases.
• Increased blood clotting.
• Long-term use of oral contraceptives.

Smokers are at high risk of developing thrombosis. Tobacco smoke has a carcinogenic effect on the body, worsens the condition of the vascular walls. If the smoker has a history of chronic diseases, the risk of thrombosis increases several times.

Blood clots in the leg are a common problem. Most often, this is faced by elderly people with a history of chronic diseases. Basically, thrombosis occurs against the background of inflammation of the wall of deep veins in the legs or thrombophlebitis.

Thrombosis in the leg can be caused by:

• infectious diseases;
• injury to the legs;
• dysfunction of the blood coagulation system;
• autoimmune diseases, etc.

At first, a blood clot is manifested by the occurrence of pain in the affected limb. Patients describe them as: dull, pulling or bursting pain. Often this symptom is accompanied by a burning sensation, numbness in the foot. Then the leg swells.

Skin color takes on an unusual shade (from bluish red to light pink), looks taut. Often, thrombophlebitis is accompanied by weakness, hyperthermia (fever), sweating, and a painful condition.

Blood clots in the hands are much less common. Often, a blood clot is a complication after an intravenous infection. Or it happens against the background of autoimmune diseases, the introduction of drugs into a vein. Drugs irritate the lining of the vein. When the injection is injected incorrectly, the risk of inflammation increases several times and appears blood clots.

Many do not know how to recognize them in such a situation, so in most cases this leads to gangrene and limb amputation. Thrombosis in the hand is manifested by a dull aching pain, burning sensation, numbness, tingling, a change in skin tone, swelling.

A healthy heart muscle pumps blood continuously and smoothly. Even minor deviations in the work of the heart disrupt the functioning of the cardiovascular system. As a result, blood clots develop in the heart. How to recognize them, because often the patient is not even aware of the problem.

Thrombosis with such localization is not accompanied by severe symptoms. The thrombus breaks off and enters the vascular system. As a result, serious complications arise.

Of these, the most dangerous are:

1. Embolism of the lower extremities. Below the point where the thrombus stops, the artery stops pulsing. Embolism is accompanied by sharp pain, loss of sensitivity; the skin turns pale, becomes cold.
2. Myocardial infarction. Complication means death of the myocardium, as a result of occlusion of the coronary artery of the heart. This is due to insufficient oxygen supply to the myocardium.
3. Stroke. As a result of a blood clot entering the arteries of the brain, various symptoms arise: speech and motor functions are sharply impaired, loss of consciousness, etc.
4. Arterial intestinal embolism.

A disease such as essential thrombocythemia can also be diagnosed. Treat it with a drug Anagrelide.

How to check blood vessels for blood clots - popular diagnostic methods

First of all, people with a genetic predisposition are susceptible to thrombosis. They must carefully monitor their health, undergo regular medical examinations, and follow all the doctor's recommendations.

How do you know if there are blood clots in the body? To do this, there are several ways how to diagnose a blood clot.

Since it is sometimes necessary to check for blood clots in the body immediately, an emergency diagnosis has been developed, in which such examinations are carried out:

1. Duplex ultrasound scanning. Allows you to determine the speed of blood flow through the vessels, the diameter of the blood vessel. Very often, an examination reveals a blood clot in the body.
2. Venography (phlebography) - X-ray of a blood vessel after the injection of a contrast agent into it. The method is aimed at studying the structure of a blood vessel and detecting a thrombus in it.
3. Angiography — X-ray examination of the vessels of the brain, aimed at detecting a thrombus.

You can also carry out a routine examination - a blood test:

• for cholesterol;
• for coagulation;
• on biochemistry (with pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, the concentration D-dimers rises).

To obtain a quick and fairly reliable diagnostic result of deep vein thrombophlebitis, ultrasound with Doppler is used.

But, since it is not possible to check blood vessels for blood clots with this method in overweight patients it turns out, especially if it is necessary to examine the iliac veins, then for the examination of such patients they use phlebography.

If a thrombus in the lower extremities is suspected, the main purpose of diagnostic measures is to detect it, to describe the characteristics of thrombosis.

For example: the density of the clot, its fixation to the venous walls, length, the presence of freely moving (floating) areas, the degree of obstruction.

Duplex ultrasound scanning can detect even blood clots that develop without characteristic signs. The absence of symptoms in thrombosis is observed when blood is diverted through additional paired blood vessels (bypass routes) or when the venous lumen is incompletely closed.

Asymptomatic thrombosis is a great danger, since a person does not even have a desire to be tested for blood clots. If the disease is detected in time and no action is taken, it is possible to completely block the vascular bed, and serious complications are not excluded. Therefore, timely diagnosis is of great importance.