Introduction
The pain in thrombosis is mainly caused by a blood clot that blocks the vessel, thus reducing the blood flow in the area to be treated or obstructing the outflow of the vessel. This reduced blood supply to the area causes pain, which signals that the area is slowly dying off. A distinction is also made between thromboses (blood clot deposits) in arterial or venous vessels. Depending on whether arterial or venous vessels are affected, the symptoms and the type of pain are also determined. In addition, a distinction is made as to whether the vessels affected are superficial or deep.
Venous thromboses
The lower limbs are most often affected. In rare cases a thrombosis can also occur in the eye. Thrombosis in the leg is particularly frequent, especially in the lower leg.
The main symptoms are sudden pain and a swollen leg. The pain can be accompanied by a strong pulling and a feeling of tension. The pain can also take on a cramp-like character.
Some people compare the pain with pain in sore muscles. However, the pain does not decrease as with sore muscles, but becomes stronger and stronger. Typical for venous thrombosis pain is that the pain subsides when the legs are raised. In addition to the pain, swelling, discoloration and warming of the leg can also occur.
Superficial venous thrombosis
A distinction is made between blood clots in the venous vascular system and thromboses in superficial or deep-lying tissue. If the affected vessel is located superficially in the tissue, the disease is called thrombophlebitis. Thombophlebitis is both a dislocation of the superficial vessel by a blood clot and an inflammation of the vessel.
The symptoms of thrombophlebitis are accompanied by reddening of the affected area. In addition, a coarse, thickened, painful venous strand can be palpated at the reddening of the skin. In contrast to deep thrombosis, swelling of the affected limbs is rather rare.
The most frequent localization is also here in the area of the legs in 90% of cases. The other cases are thrombophlebitis of the arms or a jumping, changing localization. In these cases, the carry-over of a blood clot into the lung (so-called pulmonary embolism) is much rarer than in deep thromboses, since here the blood clot must first migrate from the superficial vascular system into the deep system, and only then is it connected to the pulmonary vascular system via the migration through the heart. In most cases of thrombophlebitis, other complications are more likely to occur, such as destruction of the connecting veins between the deep and superficial vascular system (perforating veins) or further infection of the affected vein by bacteria or other pathogens.
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