Deep Vein Thrombosis
Figure one
If a blood clot develops in one of the deep leg veins, it can break away and be carried directly to the heart, causing a pulmonary embolism.
A potentially life-threatening type of blood clot, deep vein thrombosis, or DVT, is a serious but usually preventable complication of any type of surgery, including bariatric surgery.
Deep vein thrombosis usually occurs in the leg, and having had a recent surgery is one of the major risk factors. Obesity is another, as is sitting or lying in one position for too long. Females are at a higher risk than males. So if you are an obese female who's just had obesity surgery, you are at risk! DVT can lead to a pulmonary embolism, another very serious of the potential gastric bypass complications.
DVT symptoms
Very often there are no symptoms. When there are DVT symptoms, they may include swelling, redness and pain in the affected leg.
DVT treatment
Figure two
A closer look at one of the deep leg veins that can be the source of DVT
Practically as soon as you awake from the anesthesia, the nurses are going to start bugging you to walk. Walk, walk, walk, walk. You are tired. You are sore. You are groggy. The last thing you want to do is start schlepping around the hospital corridors with your fanny flapping in the breeze.
We know you are miserable and can't even stand up straight, but stop whining and start walking. It may save your life!
While you are in the hospital, you may also be given an anticoagulant (a blood thinner) via injection called heparin. They may also put some odd-looking sock type of things on you that inflate and throb. These are different from regular compression stockings in that they actually have a pump in them to stimulate blood flow.
Depending on your situation, the doctor may also ask you to wear hosiery-type compression stockings after you get home from the hospital. They may not be the most fashionable items around (though that has changed in the past few years - look at these!), but wear them anyway. You'll only have to wear them for a short time, all things considered, and do you really want to have to go back to the hospital for a complication you could have prevented?
Figures one and two are based on page 395 of Andreas Vesalius: De humani corporis fabrica libri septem (in the public domain).
Here are some other pages you may find interesting:
- Anesthesia Complication
- Dumping Syndrome
- Hair Loss After Surgery
- Gastric Bypass and Hair Loss
- Septicemia
Return to the Gastric Bypass Guru from Deep Vein Thrombosis
