Leicester General Hospital Bedside Information for Patients - Library

Part 23. Preventing blood clots while you are inhospital and recovering at homeBlood needs to clot to stop an injury from bleeding. This is acomplex process. Sometimes it can go wrong and a clot will form inthe wrong place, usually in the deep veins of the leg. This is called a‘deep vein thrombosis’ or DVT.A DVT blocks the normal flow of blood through the vein and cancause pain, redness, tenderness and swelling.Sometimes a piece of this clot can break off and travel to the lungs,blocking the flow of blood in the lung vessels. This is called a’pulmonary embolism’ or PE. PEs can cause chest pain and problemswith breathing that can be very severe.Anyone can get a DVT. It does not matter what your age is orwhether you are male or female.Some people are more at risk than others because they are:• Staying in hospital• Having surgery• Pregnant• Overweight• On certain medicationsPeople are also more at risk if they have:• A serious condition• A family history of DVTs or pulmonary embolisms• Certain inherited conditionsInformationyour bedbooklet