Know Thrombosis
Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot in a blood vessel.
Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot in a blood vessel. Blood clot formation can occur in any vein or artery throughout the body—for example, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) affects leg veins, while arterial thrombosis impacts coronary arteries. The blood clot itself is medically termed a thrombus. Once a blood clot forms, it can slow or completely block normal blood flow and may even break loose and travel to vital organs like the lungs, brain or heart. When a blood clot travels through the circulation, it becomes a dangerous embolism.
Thrombosis serves as the often preventable underlying cause of three major cardiovascular killers: heart attack, thromboembolic stroke and venous thromboembolism (VTE). These blood clot-related conditions represent the top three cardiovascular causes of death worldwide, making thrombosis awareness and blood clot prevention critically important for public health.
Knowing the signs and symptoms of thrombosis could save your life.
Recognizing blood clot warning signs—such as leg pain, leg swelling, warmth in the limb, chest pain, shortness of breath or coughing up blood—can mean the difference between timely medical intervention and a life-threatening blood clot emergency.
Blood clot symptom awareness empowers individuals to seek prompt medical attention when experiencing these DVT and PE symptoms, potentially preventing severe thrombosis complications and saving lives. Knowing the most common blood clot signs and symptoms is crucial for early detection and treatment success.
For detailed information about specific DVT symptoms, PE warning signs and when to seek immediate medical care, visit our comprehensive guide to blood clot signs and symptoms to learn how to identify potentially life-threatening blood clot symptoms.
It’s a life-threatening condition that requires immediate medical attention.
If you notice these blood clot warning signs, seek emergency medical care immediately to prevent severe life-threatening outcomes. Prompt blood clot treatment can be life-saving when started quickly. Modern thrombosis treatment options include anticoagulant medications, thrombolytic therapy and advanced device-based treatments designed to prevent clot growth, dissolve existing clots and restore healthy blood flow.
To learn more about effective blood clot treatment options and how healthcare professionals tailor therapy to individual patient needs, visit our comprehensive thrombosis treatment page.
Recovery
Post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS) is a common blood clot complication that affects many DVT survivors and can become a disabling long-term condition requiring ongoing management. Blood clot recovery often involves managing both physical PTS symptoms and psychological challenges that impact quality of life for thrombosis survivors. For comprehensive information about post-thrombotic syndrome treatment, mental health support and living well during blood clot recovery, visit our blood clot recovery page.
Are you at risk for developing a blood clot?
Blood clots affect people of all ages, races and ethnicities, occurring equally in both men and women, making it important to know thrombosis. However, specific blood clot risk factors and high-risk situations can significantly increase your chances of developing dangerous blood clots like deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE).
VTE Risk Assessment: Essential Blood Clot Screening Tool
To identify patients at risk for blood clots, healthcare professionals should conduct a comprehensive VTE risk assessment—a specialized screening tool or questionnaire that evaluates critical risk factors including patient age, medical history, current medications and specific lifestyle factors. This blood clot risk evaluation helps medical providers determine a patient’s potential risk level (high, moderate or low risk) for developing life-threatening blood clots in the legs (DVT) or lungs (pulmonary embolism).
Hospital Blood Clot Prevention: Know Your Rights
If you are admitted to a hospital and don’t receive a VTE risk assessment for blood clot prevention, be proactive about your healthcare and specifically request this important blood clot screening. Hospital-acquired blood clots are preventable with proper risk assessment and prevention protocols.
About 100,000 of those people will die, which is greater than the total number of people who lose their lives each year to AIDS, breast cancer, and motor vehicle crashes combined.
Emerging data have enhanced the understanding of cancer-associated thrombosis, a major cause of morbidity and mortality and indicates that cancer patients are at four times higher risk than the general population of developing serious blood clots.
Others include cancer-associated thrombosis and gender-specific risks.
