If an elderly person breaks a hip then develops a blood clot in the lungs, how can blood thinner save their life? What if the blood clot traveled from another part of the body? What would the life expectancy be for someone in this situation? I appreciate any answers that will help me to understand. Thanks!!
Answer:
Your question is the reason not many people that break their hips due to osteoporosis live very long. They may die soon after from a fatty embolism or later on from the blood clot you are asking about or pneumonia. The problem arises from being bedridden and sedentary. This will cause stasis of blood or blood that pools and does not move, this can be a risk factor for a clot. A blood thinner really does not thin the blood or alter the viscosity of blood, it is a drug that interferes with the blood clotting mechanism thus preventing clots from forming in the first place. A common place for a clot to form are in the deep veins of the legs, from there they can move and lodge in the lungs, heart, brain. In any event they can be lethal. This is a predictable event, so steps are taken to prevent this like putting someone who has broken a hip on thinners, using the compression stockings. And whenever possible get that person up and walking as soon as possible. If a person has a dangerous clot formed there are drugs that can break them up called clot busters. These are drugs like TPA (tissueplasminogen activator) Streptokinase. These drugs will work on young clots usually no older than 6 hrs. old, in fact they are similar to what our body produces for us to break up clots. As I said an elderly person with a hip fracture does not have a great prognosis because they are now laid up and that person can become debilitated.
blood thinners help by making the blood so thin that more blood doesn't accumulate around the clot. A pulmonary embolism is a very dangerous condition, and if not caught in time can burst, causing immediate and certain death.
A clot happens (especially in an elderly person and a person just out of surgery) because of poor circulation (lack of movement, especially in the legs) within the body. (usually starts in the legs and then travels to other parts till it can't travel anymore) Blood thinners thins out the blood making it more difficult to clot, thus preventing a life threatening condition.
It depends on where the blood clot is and also if they are seeing their doctor about it. Usually, a person won't know if they have a blood clot, unless they have swelling and loss of feeling. Blood clots can be a very dangerious thing, especially if it travels to the brain (stroke) or heart (heartattack).
Hope tha helps!
Blood thinners like Heperin,Lovenox and Coumadin may help to break up the clots,and may help to prevent new ones from forming. If a clot goes to the lung,it is a Pulmonary Embolism, and called a PE. If it is in the vein,it is called a DVT,for Deep Vein Thrombosis. In the arteries,it is called an Arterial Clot. All are serious.But some never dissolve. Many different conditions can cause clots.If the clot goes to the brain,or heart it kills you. Google blood clots to learn more about this. Hope it helps you.
It's not just elderly people. It's anyone who has had traumatic injuries, and has reduced mobility. There are also other risk factors, which I won't go into here.
The blood clots you're talking about are known as pulmonary emboli. These are clots which have formed somewhere else, usually the deep veins of the legs, and broken off and been swept into the lungs by the blood stream. When the blood clot is anchored in the vein, it is called a thrombus.
When a person is found to have thrombus in their veins, or emboli in their lungs, they are immediately given blood thinners--usually, heparin. Heparin reduces the ability of blood to clot, which stops additional clot from forming. For long term treatment of the clots, patients are usually given coumadin, which also helps the blood to be less prone to clotting, and allows the body to break down the clots that already exist.
Thrombus in a vein does not usually cause death. It is when it breaks free and becomes and embolus that it becomes potentially deadly. How dangerous it is depends on the size of the clot. The larger the clot, the more the blood vessels in the lungs will be obstructed. Block enough of them, and you're dead in a matter of minutes.
In order to prevent blood clots in the legs from reaching the lungs, doctors will usually place an IVC filter--a metal trap inside the Inferior Vena Cava, to catch any blood clots that manage to break free.
A blood thinner is exactly what it is. It keeps the blood from clotting causing clots. it does not help with clots that are already formed. They can give TPA (Transplasmogen Antigen). It is a clot buster. Life expectancy is not very long if the clot is not caught early enough. With a clot to the lungs, it really does not take very long at all for someone to die. They feel very short of breath, anxious, and they turn blue. When someone has hip surgery they are immobile causing poorer circulation causing blood not to return to the heart fast enough causing a clot to form. Clots can lodge in the vein and break off causing an embolism. Clots that stay where they are are called an emboli.
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