In plumbing, a blocked pipe is usually the start of trouble.
But when the pipe in question is a vein (the vessels that bring blood to the heart) or an artery (the vessels that carry blood from the heart), the problem can take on a much more dramatic dimension.
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Phlebitis and pulmonary embolism, what are we talking about exactly?
In the vast majority of cases, the plug is a blood clot, also called thrombus: we thus speak of thrombosis.
It can be venous or arterial depending on the type of blood vessel that is affected, superficial or deep depending on their size (because large vessels are buried deeper in the human body than capillaries).
When the thrombosis affects a vein, doctors also speak of phlebitis or thrombophlebitis.
As it occurs in more than 90% of cases in the legs, the term phlebitis has come into common parlance to refer to this particular event (a blocked vein in a leg).
It's not rare
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