Bruise or ecchymosis?

NurseOnAMotorcycle, ASN, RN · Jul 10, 2011

I thought they were the same too.

SneakySnake · Jul 10, 2011

So do you think they were being a smarty pants or just trying to impress me with fancy lingo and it backfired making them look...well...silly?

Or, will there be more input and I will learn that they are indeed two different things?

**NickiLaughs, ADN, BSN, RN** · Jul 10, 2011

I guess it's a type of bruise, I had thought it was the same too:

?A bruise (medically referred to as a contusion) is caused when tiny blood vessels are damaged or broken as the result of a blow to the skin (be it bumping against something or hitting yourself with a hammer). The raised area of a bump or bruise results from blood leaking from these injured blood vessels into the tissues as well as from the body's response to the injury. A purplish, flat bruise that occurs when blood leaks out into the top layers of skin is referred to as an ecchymosis.

Per medicinenet.com

SneakySnake · Jul 10, 2011

Then this resident had bruising (or a contusion) right? The scratching caused damage to the blood vessels. Is ecchymosis just spontaneous blood leakage? I read that definition at medicinenet.com too and I was still confused.

Anisettes, BSN, RN · Jul 10, 2011

I guess it's a type of bruise, I had thought it was the same too:
?A bruise (medically referred to as a contusion) is caused when tiny blood vessels are damaged or broken as the result of a blow to the skin (be it bumping against something or hitting yourself with a hammer). The raised area of a bump or bruise results from blood leaking from these injured blood vessels into the tissues as well as from the body's response to the injury. A purplish, flat bruise that occurs when blood leaks out into the top layers of skin is referred to as an ecchymosis.
Per medicinenet.com

Welcome definition, I didn't know there was a difference either. But since the difference is fairly minor and not as obvious to the normal eye AND she's not a pathologist conducting an autopsy where the difference might have meaning, I'd go with the smarty pants explanation as to why she corrected you.

Humans are odd creatures, we do all kinds of things for all kinds of reasons. She obviously has a need to be precise (or superior - I don't know her). It's no skin off you, I'd just smile and keep moving. Sometimes you just gotta let people have what they need and let it ride. You can't fix what motivates her (or anybody else) and you'll just make yourself unhappy wondering if she's trying to show you up.

crb613, BSN, RN · Jul 10, 2011

I was taught not to chart bruise, but describe what I saw....color, size, & so on.

NiciNurse, LVN · Jul 10, 2011

The difference is that a bruise is caused by outside trauma to the area. Ecchymosis is a type of bruising caused by a disorder or a side effect to a medication.

This is what I learned and remembered from nursing school, so technically it is a bruise, but you cannot just call it that.

SneakySnake · Jul 10, 2011

I was taught not to chart bruise, but describe what I saw....color, size, & so on.

That is what I was taught too :)

kanders10 · Jul 10, 2011

Yeah it's the same thing. Some bruises can be classified as either petechia, purpura or ecchymosis based on the size and dispersion of it, although they may be caused by different things. I think a lot of people are easily confused by all the terminology so maybe this applies to her as well : )

morte, LPN, LVN · Jul 10, 2011

I was taught to describe this as ecchymotic area....don't want to cause a red flag for anyone looking for a problem, and "bruise" implies injury......in the OP, do we know that the itching caused the ecchymotic area, or is it possble that whatever caused the itching also caused the ecchymosis?

SpEdtacular, MSN, RN, EMT-P · Jul 10, 2011

I think of contusion (bruise) as meaning the actual injury and ecchymosis as meaning the injured area.

Like I hit my arm and it caused a contusion. When I looked at it later it was tender and there was a large area of ecchymosis.