After a sprained foot, I did a foot massage and didn't want to be sent to the ICU...why?
Ms. Zhang (pseudonym), a citizen of Nanjing, is a senior IT practitioner. She is usually in good health in her early forties.
But just a few days ago, a foot massage put her in the ICU.
Fortunately, under the full treatment of the expert team from the Interventional Medicine Department and the Critical Care Medicine Department of Nanjing First Hospital, she finally turned the corner after passing by the god of death.
It turned out that Ms. Zhang accidentally sprained her right foot a week ago. At that time, she felt that it was not serious, so she did not seek medical treatment in time, and still insisted on going to work every day.
However, for a week, Ms. Zhang's right leg has been feeling swollen and painful, so she went to the pedicure shop in front of her home after get off work, intending to do a leg massage to relieve the symptoms.
Unexpectedly, not long after the massage, Ms. Zhang suddenly felt severe chest pain, accompanied by severe chest tightness, she felt breathless, and her lips and skin turned blue and purple.
The family immediately took her to a nearby hospital for treatment.
On ultrasonography, Ms. Zhang was found to have right lower extremity deep vein thrombosis with severe right ventricular enlargement and pulmonary hypertension.
Combined with her medical history, this was a clinical presentation of acute pulmonary thromboembolism.
Ms. Zhang was in critical condition at this time and her life was in danger at any time. Due to the lack of corresponding treatment conditions, she was immediately transferred to Nanjing First Hospital.
Acute pulmonary embolism is a clinical syndrome in which endogenous or exogenous emboli block the main or branch of the pulmonary artery and cause pulmonary circulation obstruction.
Due to the obstruction of pulmonary artery blood flow, the venous blood stagnated in the pulmonary artery and the right ventricle, and the adequate oxygenation and exchange in the lungs cannot be carried out, resulting in symptoms of severe hypoxia and right heart failure. In severe cases, sudden death may occur.
In view of Ms. Zhang's life-threatening condition, immediate interventional treatment is required.
Experts say that pulmonary embolism is a serious disease with sudden illness and high fatality rate.
From Ms. Zhang's case, sprained right foot and long-term sedentary work are risk factors for deep vein thrombosis in the lower extremity.
Here, I especially remind people who are engaged in the IT industry and those who often travel for a long time on planes and trains to move their lower extremities regularly to promote blood circulation in the lower extremities and reduce the formation of thrombosis.
Once you find that one side of the leg is swollen, you must go to the hospital immediately and must not deal with it yourself.
Correspondent Xu Huan Luo Zhicheng Zhang Chen
Yangzi Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Yu Dandan