The most common symptoms of a Deep Vein Thrombosis in the legs is pain, redness, and swelling of the affected limb, most commonly in the calf. Typically, a person will develop these symptoms after predisposing factor, like an injury or surgery or a long plane flight. However, a DVT can be unprovoked and occur out of the blue. The symptoms often come on suddenly, and do not go away immediately. In general, the symptoms are constant in nature, meaning they do not come and go. Unfortunately, only about half of people with DVT’s have all of the symptoms, and some patients have few symptoms at all, so if there is any question in your mind, you should seek immediate medical attention.
The treating provider will take a through medical history and perform a physical examination. The health care provider will likely ask questions about prior history of blood clots or any family history of blood clots or bleeding problems. A number of tests are available to check for DVT’s. The most commonly performed of these is a vascular ultrasound. This is a non-invasive imaging study where ultrasound is used to image non invasively through the skin to check for blood clots in the legs. Ultrasound can see is a blood clot blocking the flow of blood in the both the deep and superficial veins. It is an accurate test, and is safe in almost all patients.
Sometimes this will be performed in conjunction with a blood test, and in a few cases, more advanced imaging techniques such as CT, MRI or venogram are utilized to look at the deeper veins in the pelvis or chest. When a DVT is discovered, we work with your physicians to manage the DVT and minimize potential for complications.
We perform consultations for patients suspected of having or who have already been diagnosed with DVT at our Inovia® Vein Specialty Centers. We are currently scheduling patients in our clinic at The Center next to St. Charles Medical Center (which serves Oregon patients from Bend, Redmond, Prineville, Madras, La Pine, Baker City, Burns, and John Day). In addition, we are scheduling patients in our Bridgeport Village center in Portland, Oregon (for Oregon patients from Tigard, Lake Oswego, West Linn, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Sherwood, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Clackamas, Sunnyside, and Milwaukie).
To learn more about DVT diagnostics at one of our Oregon vein specialty centers, request a consultation with one of our specialists, or call our office to make an appointment.
