Blood Clots: part 3

What causes blood clots in the veins?

There are many reasons why blood clots can form in veins. These include

- Prolonged immobility (after surgery)
- Long airplane ride
- Taking the birth control pill
- Trauma or fractures of leg(s)
- Injury to veins
- Cancer
- Stroke- which has caused one to become bed ridden
- After any surgery- especially hip and knee
- Obesity
- Congestive heart failure
- Pregnancy or just after delivery
- Inherited blood disorders
- Prior blood clot –there is increased chance of a
second clot if one has had a previous blood clot

Are blood clots dangerous?

Most definitely. Any time you have one of the above symptoms; one should go and see a doctor. Blood clots in veins have a high tendency to break off and migrate to the lungs where they can cause serious problem’s including death.

How can blood clots in veins be detected?

Your physician will first examine you and order the most appropriate tests. The first test to detect blood clots in all cases is an ultrasound.

Doppler ultrasound is a painless test that takes a few minutes and can easily detect the presence of blood clots in arm and leg veins. However, if blood clots are located in the chest, abdomen or pelvis, Ultrasound is not good enough.

MRI: This non invasive test is also excellent for evaluating presence of blood clots. The test does not use radiation but is slightly more expensive. It is useful for detection of blood clots almost anywhere in the body, but is not the first test of choice.

Venogram: In the old days Venogram was used to look for blood clots. However this test is rarely used to day because of availability of US and MRI. Venogram requires use of a dye and radiation.

CT scan: The newer CT scans can easily identify presence of clots in the lungs. However, CT scans are not routinely used to detect blood clots as the initial test. CT scan requires exposure to radiation and use of an iodinated dye.