Your doctor will ask about your medical history and your symptoms. Your doctor will examine you, especially any abnormal areas, such as a swollen leg. Sometimes the clotted area can be felt deep in the calf or thigh. Your legs may be measured to compare sizes on the right and left.

Tests are needed to confirm the diagnosis. The most common tests are ultrasound exams.

 

• Ultrasound exams use sound waves to make pictures. Sound waves are bounced off the deep veins in an arm or leg. These echo pictures help locate any blockages. Ultrasound is also used to measure how fast the blood flows through the veins.  Blood clots are sometimes discovered by doing a CT scan (computed tomography) of the pelvis.

The goals of treatment are preventing clots from getting bigger, preventing complications from clots (like a stroke), and prevention of new clots.

Shots of blood thinners (anticoagulant drugs) are used to prevent the growth of a clot and to prevent new clots. These medicines are prescribed very carefully because they can cause internal bleeding. Treatment requires balancing the risk of internal bleeding from the medicine and the risk of clots. You will have regular blood tests to check the effect of the medicine on your blood clotting.

Your doctor will also prescribe bedrest. This may seem odd because bedrest can lead to clots. But if you have a clot and have started taking medicine for it, bedrest may reduce the risk of a piece of the clot breaking off and causing problems somewhere else in your body.

You may start your treatment at the hospital. When your blood tests show that your dose of medicine is at a safe and stable level, you may be able to go home, where you will keep taking a blood thinner. You may learn how to give yourself shots of your medicine, a home health nurse may visit to give you the medicine, or you may be switched to a medicine that you can take by mouth.  You will have your blood checked often with blood tests to make sure your blood clotting ability is in a safe and recommended range.  You may need to take a blood thinner for many weeks, maybe even for 6 months after your clot has been diagnosed. If you have a condition that keeps you at high risk for blood clots, you may need to take a blood thinner for the rest of your life.