The Pill

The most risky of all contraceptive pills is the combined preparation of estrogen and progestin, because it contains the substance drospirenone. Studies have shown that it carries the greatest risk of thrombosis. It is statistically interesting that only 3-6 out of 10,000 women are affected.

Smoking increases the risk of thrombosis, as do overweight and high blood pressure. It may happen that overweight smoking patients are not prescribed this form of contraception. An alternative is to use other hormone preparations containing other or fewer progestins (e.g. micro or minipills).

Flying

Frequent flyers who take long flights belong to a special risk group for thromboses in the legs. Sitting for hours on an airplane, the low air pressure and the low humidity in the cabin of an airplane cause the blood to flow more slowly. In addition, the veins in the hollow of the knee bend when sitting for long periods, which again slows down the blood flow and promotes thrombosis.

If you feel pain in your legs when flying or have other symptoms such as swollen legs, it is advisable to consider wearing support stockings during the next flight. It is also possible to seek advice from a doctor before the flight, who can prescribe anticoagulant medication if necessary. What you can do yourself is drink enough to maintain your fluid balance and get up from time to time during the flight and walk up and down the aisle. The activity of the muscles compresses the veins and thrombi have less chance of attaching themselves to the walls of the blood vessels.

Diagnosis

A detailed doctor-patient conversation (anamnesis) is the first part of the examination. Risk factors such as smoking, alcohol consumption, overweight or varicose veins must be asked particularly thoroughly. Furthermore, the diagnosis can be confirmed by ultrasound.

In ultrasound images, the doctor can detect thromboses in the leg with the “compression test”. If a thrombosis is present, the clogged vein can no longer be compressed at the point where the thrombus is located. It is therefore quite simple for doctors to diagnose thrombosis safely and initiate appropriate therapy.

With the blood test, the increase in the so-called D-dimers and the inflammation parameters can be determined. The inflammation parameters of interest here are the increased number of white blood cells and the blood sedimentation rate of the blood when it is in a glass. The faster the solid blood components separate and settle from the liquid ones, the more likely a pathological process in the body is.

A low or negative D-dimer value always rules out the presence of thrombosis. A high or positive D-dimer value may indicate a suspected thrombosis, but it does not always have to be a thrombosis. To be on the safe side, an ultrasound scan should be performed to confirm the diagnosis if the D-dimer value is suspicious.