exercises when immobile for long periods.
When deep vein thrombosis is diagnosed, it is potentially life-threatening and requires immediate medical attention. Most importantly the medical team wants to stop the clot from getting bigger, keep the clot from breaking off and travelling into the lungs, and doing everything possible to keep another clot from forming. Treatment usually includes blood thinners to break up existing clots and prevent new ones.
• Anticoagulants. For example, injectables such as heparin or low-molecular-weight heparin, or tablets such as apixaban, dabigatran and rivaroxaban, edaxaban and warfarin.
In rare cases, when medicines don’t work, surgery may be needed. It may involve placing a filter in the body’s largest vein to prevent blood clots from traveling to the lungs or removing a large blood clot from the vein or injecting clot-busting medicines.
Pulmonary embolism is the most common preventable cause of death among hospital patients. The potential public health benefit of preventing VTE is substantial. Data from randomized trials involving general surgical patients suggest that adequate prevention measures in high-risk patients can prevent VTE in one of 10 patients and save the life of about one of 200 patients.
The good news is that hospitals are doing a better job of managing the condition. New research has focused on development of noninvasive diagnostics such as ultrasound enhanced techniques and molecular imaging methods.
Learn about the signs and symptoms of VTE.