How To Avoid DVT

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) can be a worry for frequent travelers.

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It occurs when restricted blood flow leads to the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein of the leg. Symptoms include a swollen or painful calf or thigh; in rare cases, part of the clot moves to the lungs, possibly causing a pulmonary embolism (blocked blood vessel) that, if severe, may cause the lungs to collapse.

FLYING AND DVT

Of course, DVT/PE events (also called venous thromboembolism) aren’t caused only by traveling. Each year it occurs in as many as 900,000 people in the US, according to the CDC, and can be fatal in up to 10 percent of the cases.

Still, Professor Mark Whiteley, a consultant venous surgeon and phlebologist, warns that clots are caused by Virchow’s Triad [named after German physician Rudolf Virchow]. “These are changes in the blood, changes in the blood flow and changes in the vessel wall. Any one of those can cause a clot.”