Why DVT can strike anyone, any time and how to avoid a killer blood clot (1)

Who has not heard of DVT – deep vein thrombosis? I thought it happened only in overweight, unfit people over the age of 50, people who smoked too much, exercised too little and got their comeuppance as they ate their way through airline meals on seriously long-haul flights.

So when I – under 50 at the time, fit, non-smoker, lean – awoke after being cat-curled in a seat on a six-hour flight with a pain in my right calf, I naturally assumed it was only a cramp. I stretched my skinny-jean clad legs out, said “ouch”, gave it a rub and disembarked, certain I’d walk the soreness off in no time.

Except that I didn’t. Two days later, the deep ache was waking me at night and I resorted to pain medication. A nagging voice in my head began to question whether this was more than a mere cramp. A cautious friend advised a visit to a doctor’s clinic; the doctor examined my legs: no redness, no heat, no swelling – just pain.

“I’m sure it’s not DVT,” he said, “but we can’t take a chance.”

He sent me off to the accident and emergency department, where I had a blood test for D-dimer – a protein fragment from the breakdown of a blood clot. The test indicated I had DVT, confirmed by an ultrasound.

An injection of blood thinners to further break down the clot was plunged into my abdomen so that a bruise bloomed black and as big as my fist. X-rays of my chest followed, to ensure my lungs were clear and three months of anticoagulants were prescribed.

I was appalled. DVT didn’t happen to people like me: the young (ish), the fit, the lean non-smokers. Oh yes, they do, said the vascular surgeon who examined me.

Deep vein thrombosis is the medical term for blood clots in the deep veins of the leg. If a blood clot forms inside a blood vessel, explains Dr Chad Tse Cheuk-wa, a surgeon who specialises in vascular and endovascular surgery at Hong Kong’s Veno Clinic, “it can clog the vessel and keep blood from getting where it needs to go. When that happens, blood can back up and cause swelling and pain.”

DVT is always considered serious, as any clot in a vein “can travel to other parts of the body and clog blood vessels there”, Tse said. “Blood clots that form in the legs, for example, can end up blocking blood vessels in the lungs. This can make it hard to breathe and sometimes, when they are large, can lead to death.” A blood clot that travels to the lungs is a pulmonary embolism.

Many things can predispose a person to DVT, including obesity, smoking and age, as well as certain medical conditions, some medications – including birth control pills and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) – and surgery. Dr Tse says prolonged travel – whether by plane, train or automobile – appears to confer a two- to fourfold increase in risk, and taking one long-haul flight a year increases the risk by 12 per cent.

My surgeon said immobility and dehydration are the key reasons flying is a risk – and he warned that “long-haul” can be as short as four hours. Immobility allows the blood in your legs to pool in your calves, and a lack of hydration allows that blood to become “sticky”. The combination of thick, slow-flowing blood is not good.

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Reference information:  SCMP
It is not intended as medical advice to any specific person. If you have any need for personal advice or have any questions regarding your health, please consult your physicians for diagnosis and treatment.