Pulmonary thrombosis, also known as pulmonary embolism, occurs when a clot or thrombus clogs a vessel in the lungs, preventing blood from passing and causing the progressive death of the affected part, resulting in symptoms such as respiratory pain and severe shortness of breath. .
Due to breathing difficulties and lung damage, the amount of oxygen in the blood decreases and organs throughout the body may be affected, especially when there are multiple clots or when thrombosis lasts a long time, causing a massive embolism or pulmonary infarction.
- For example.
- Pulmonary thrombosis is a serious condition that.
- When suspected.
- Should be evaluated and treated as soon as possible in the hospital with medicines directly in the vein.
- Oxygen and.
- In some cases.
- Surgery.
The most common symptom of pulmonary thrombosis is the intense feeling of shortness of breath, which may appear suddenly or worsen over time, depending on the size of the affected lung area.
However, other symptoms may also occur
The intensity of symptoms may vary depending on the size of the clot and the duration of thrombosis. Whenever there is shortness of breath, severe chest pain or coughing up blood, it is always very important to go to the hospital to identify the cause and start treatment, as these are symptoms that are usually associated with more serious problems. See a more complete list of all symptoms.
Pulmonary thrombosis is usually caused by a blood clot, or thrombus, that moves from another part of the body to the lungs, trapping and preventing blood from passing into a part of the lung.
Factors that increase your risk of clotting and develop this problem include:
Thrombosis can also be caused by other rarer causes, such as air bubbles, in the case of a pneumothorax, or in the presence of fragments that can clog a blood vessel, such as fat drops. Learn how fat can cause a fat embolism.
Treatment of pulmonary thrombosis should be performed in the hospital with injectable anticoagulants, such as heparin, to dissolve the clot and allow blood to pass again. In more severe cases, medications called thrombolytics, which are extremely effective at rapidly dissolving thrombus, may be used.
Your doctor may also prescribe pain relievers, such as acetaminophen or tramadol, to relieve chest pain and facilitate breathing, and it is usually necessary to use the oxygen mask to facilitate breathing and oxygenation of the blood.
Normally, you should be hospitalized for at least 3 days, but in the most severe cases or when it has not been possible to use medications to dissolve the clot, it may even be necessary to have surgery to remove this thrombus, called embolectomy, and therefore hospitalization may last longer.
Pulmonary thrombosis, although it is an emergency and a medical situation, when treated correctly and quickly, has good chances of recovery and does not always leave sequelae. The most common sequea of this situation is the decrease in oxygen in a given region, which can lead to the death of these tissues and problems in the affected organ.
Most of the time, pulmonary embolism is treated in a timely manner and, as a result, there are no serious sequelae. However, if treatment is not done correctly or if there is a very large area of the affected lung, very serious sequelae, such as heart failure or cardiac arrest, may occur, which can be life-threatening.