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HEALTH&FITNESS
250
February15
Deep Danger
If it were purely a health issue, you could probably
decide to live with your simple spider veins for the
rest of your life, merely opting to wear longer skirts
and pants as the condition worsens over the years.
The same could possibly be said of truncal varicose
veins, too, as long as they’re relatively mild and don’t
cause you pain or lead to potentially dangerous
complications such as ulceration. But deep vein
thrombosis (DVT) is something very different: a life-
threatening clot that forms not in the superficial veins
but in the deep veins of the leg. DR CHENG SHIN
CHUEN explains.
Who is most likely to develop DVT?
Broadly speaking, the following two categories are
most at risk:
• Well people
who take long-haul flights (over four
hours) involving long periods of immobility.
• Hospital patients
who undergo surgery involving
bones and joints or big tumours in the pelvic region.
Another at-risk category is those who are genetically
predisposed to DVT or have an illness such as cancer
or an autoimmune disease.
What are the first signs of a DVT, and how is
it diagnosed?
It could be just a leg swelling, only occurring at
one side; or perhaps a swollen and painful calf. In
severe cases, the skin can turn bluish-purple. DVT
is diagnosed by an ultrasound examination that is
painless and holds no risk of radiation.
How to avoid DV T:
•
Wear flight stockings on long flights.
•
On a long flight or a car journey, or even if you
sit at a desk for long periods, walk around for
a few minutes every hour or two if possible;
if not, do lower leg exercises in your seat.
•
Exercise regularly, keep your weight in check
and don’t smoke.
What makes it so dangerous?
The immediate danger is that one or more clots can break off the
main clot and end up in the patient’s lungs or heart – this is the
complication that all of us fear. The other danger, if the clot is not
removed early on, is that the vein becomes permanently damaged,
leading to debilitating long-term swelling and even skin damage in
30 percent of patients.
How is DVT treated?
Clots in the legs are treated according to the risk of clots breaking
off and the extent of the clot. An exciting new development is the
availability of new oral anti-coagulants (NOACs) such as Xarelto
that come in tablet form; previously, patients would need to receive
injections or take Warfarin, which is very hard to manage because it
requires going for blood tests every three days and tends to interfere
with other medications.
For extensive clots, we have newer devices like Trellis, AngioJet
and Rotarex that can suck out the clots through just a small puncture
in the skin.
In summary, though DVT is a life-threatening condition that can
lead to debilitating consequences if not treated early, it can be readily
diagnosed, and the latest treatments are effective and minimally
invasive – even for serious situations.
Pacific Vein and Endovascular Centre
#19-01 Paragon
290 Orchard Road
6238 2966 | pacificvein.com.sg