Venous Doppler and DVT

Anyone who flies knows about life threatening clots in the veins. The inflight magazine gives you exercises to perform to aid in preventing clots.

Over 200,000 people die in the US from a clot in the vein. Over 2,000 people died last year from travel related strokes induced by DVT.

If you have swelling in your legs after sitting for a long period of time and it does not go away with elevation of your legs, it could be a symptom of a new or old blood clot in a vein.

If you have these symptoms and are concerned, we can perform a complete, diagnostic exam. Call your physician for an order.

This condition is called DVT or Deep Vein Thrombosis.

So, don't just read the magazine on the airplane, follow the advice

Get up and walk around
Stay hydrated - you don't really need that beer or glass of wine - have water
Wear compression hosiery
And pay attention to your own symptoms

There are anticoagulating medications on the market that are prescribed by your physician if you are diagnosed with DVT.

When we evaluate for blood clots on ultrasound, our company not only looks at the vein but we do doppler to see how the blood is flowing. Without doppler, it is easy to miss a clot. Medicare calls a "quick look" a screening exam and it is not billable. It is important that the technician performing the exam do it completely. That is not always the case. You are in control of your health. Ask the question if you or a loved one is having this test - Do you perform doppler at every level in the vein evaluated even if you think it is normal? This is the medically accepted exam. You have a right to it.

A new clot looks like blood on an ultrasound image. One of the techniques the technician performs is pressing the vein with the transducer to see if the walls of the vein touch. If the walls touch, many believe there is not a clot. But, the technician may have missed it by an inch. By performing the doppler, the vein can be fully evaluated and the clot may be detected.

If you come in with symptoms such as swelling, calf pain, redness, tenderness in the legs and want an exam - we perform only full diagnostic studies. We will not perform screening venous doppler exams in our facility. Your life is too important.