Glad to see you back online, Sister, and glad you made it through successfully. That's the good thing about anesthesiologists; they're very cool people, as a rule, and more accepting of recreational drug use than any other type of medical specialist I've ever met. Maybe it's because they're in the business of drugging folks to take away pain and administering various types of medicines that other physicians wouldn't even begin to consider.

Deep vein thromboses (the -es ending is simply the plural form of thrombosis) are essentially blood clots that originate in the deep veins of the lower half of the body, usually in the legs or the pelvis. When people have surgery, they're lying still and are anesthetized. The surgical procedure opens up an incision and the body begins to respond to that perceived injury by releasing clotting substances into the bloodstream, among other things. I also have a theory that a surgical incision interrupts the body's normally closed, contained vascular fluid system and that, just like would happen if you had a closed bottle of fluid lying on its side and cut into it, an incision in a human body throws off that fluid equilibrium, which causes air bubbles and, with coagulation chemicals like thrombin thrown into the mix, prompts clots to form and want to break loose and travel upstream.

Therein lies the problem. A clot that forms down deep in the leg veins is going to want to travel upstream to the lungs along with the other blood returning in that direction to be oxygenated and recirculated. So people who form DVTs are at risk of having a pulmonary embolism or even an embolic stroke. You don't want a pulmonary embolism or a stroke.

Lots of things put people at risk for DVTs. Surgery, and particularly female surgery (the longer the procedure, the higher the risk). Varicose veins. Recent air travel. Obesity. Cigarette smoking. Higher estrogen levels from birth control or simply being of the female sex. It's not a post-operative complication that's fun to deal with. And it's a very common one. I had a colleague about 10 years ago who went into the hospital to have some fairly minor back surgery--a perfectly healthy, slender, non-smoking 32-year-old who had gotten married to the love of her life about four weeks earlier--and when she was allowed to get out of bed the next day and stand up, she took 10 steps over to the sink and fell over dead from a DVT embolism that had traveled up to her brain. It's fairly standard operating procedure to put people in compression boots or anti-thrombus compression hosiery before surgery to help lower the risk, but it can't be completely eliminated. In the case of Diane, my colleague, she was on birth control that probably raised her estrogen levels to a more risky level, and it turns out she also had an until-then-unidentified clotting disorder. The disorder in combination with the birth control made her a walking DVT time bomb, only they didn't know that till too late.

You can read more here at these sites:
Deep vein thrombosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Deep venous thrombosis
Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT): Venous Disorders: Merck Manual Home Edition
birdgirl73 Reviewed by birdgirl73 on . I'm scared, & need some immediate help guys!! Hi everyone!! I posted this over in the "experiences" section, but they suggested that I post it over here, too. I know I'm a little late, since I may not be able to get back online after tonight, so hopefully you guys can help me tonight or I can sneak on for a few minutes this week!! Thanks for any help!! I'm having some minor surgery on Friday. I smoke weed every day, & was told this is really bad before going under anesthesia. I don't know when to stop, AND when I can start up again. I Rating: 5