The man almost lost his leg due to a blood vessel blockage after Covid-19

Mr. D.VT (64 years old, living in Dong Nai) has Covid-19 and has been cured for almost 1 month. However, since recovering from Covid-19, he often feels sore in his legs.

Thinking because of joint pain, he only used massage oil every day. When his legs were swollen, bruised, difficult to walk and showed signs of sores, his family quickly took Mr. T. to the hospital.

Doctor, Doctor Nguyen Anh Dung, Head of Cardiovascular – Thoracic Surgery Department, Cardiology Center, Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, directly received the case, said that the patient was admitted to the hospital in a critical condition. leg was badly sore. The patient was diagnosed with necrosis due to vascular occlusion of the lower extremities after Covid-19.

The doctors quickly treated the wound, prescribed anticoagulants and promptly removed the blood clot causing the lower extremity occlusion, opened the blood vessel by bridging technique, and used a negative pressure machine to aspirate. The blood is then drained, and the necrotic muscle is removed for the patient.

“Although the patient was in the most severe stage, he was treated promptly and kept his foot. If it was delayed, the lower limb had severe necrosis, doctors were forced to choose the option of amputation to preserve the life of the patient. patient.

We have also met many cases of amputation due to vascular occlusion because the patient did not know and by the time the doctor intervened, it was too late.” Dr. Dung said.

Patients are screened for cardiovascular – vascular diseases after Covid-19. Photo: BVCC.

Vascular occlusion of the lower extremities is a state of ischemia in part or all of the lower extremities, causing pain, ulceration, and even limb necrosis. The disease is caused by many causes, including the impact from the formation of blood clots that block blood vessels.

In particular, people who have been infected with Covid-19 have an increased risk of developing serious blood clots 3 to 6 months after contracting the disease.

“After entering the body, the SARS-CoV-2 virus will attach to the ACE2 receptor that is abundant in the vascular endothelium and proceed to invade cells. Thereby causing damage in the blood vessel lumen, leading to damage to the blood vessel. to the body to trigger the release of a “storm” of cytokines, white blood cells, etc. to actively heal these injuries.

But it’s also the immune system overreacting to pathogens that contributes to blood clots. Not only damaging the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, blood clots can also restrict blood flow to other organs such as clogging the arteries of the lower extremities leading to necrosis requiring amputation if not timely intervention. “Dr. Dung explained.

Prevention

A study just published in April 2022 by Swedish, British and Finnish scientists based on a comparison between 4 million people who did not have the disease and more than 1 million people who had been infected with Covid-19 showed that after 3 months Since the day of being positive for Covid-19, infected people have a 4% increased risk of developing deep vein thrombosis in the thigh or leg.

In addition, the virus SARS-CoV-2 can increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis by 5 times – something also noted in a recent study in the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Therefore, in order to actively monitor signs of blood clot formation and prevent the risk of vascular occlusion in the lower extremities after Covid-19, Dr. Dung recommends patients with underlying diseases such as hypertension. pressure, diabetes, lipid metabolism disorders… it is necessary to go to medical facilities with cardiovascular specialties for examination, early detection and timely intervention.

“People who have been infected with Covid-19 also need to build a scientific lifestyle, which combines eating a full range of nutrients and being active, doing light exercise every day, and taking care of them at the same time. Take care of your mental health, get enough sleep, avoid anxiety and regularly monitor your health status”Dr. Dung emphasized.

According to the Law & Readers