J A n U A R Y 2 0 1 8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y. N E T • 6 3
O
f all surgery's risks, developing blood clots of deep
vein thrombosis (DVT) is one of the most dangerous
— and one of the deadliest. It's also one of the most
sinister. It's impossible to detect DVT about half of the
time because there are no symptoms when a blood
clot forms inside a vein, deep within the body very often in the thigh or
Catch DVT If You Can
Deep vein thrombosis is completely treatable if caught in time, but the
symptoms aren't always easy to spot.
• FATAL RISK When blood clots break off and travel to another part of the body, such as the lungs, it's called a pulmonary
embolism — and it can be fatal.
Joseph A. Caprini, MD, MS, FACS, RVT | Evanston, Ill.
