red leg ?

[student-with-no-life]

Ok I went to the Dr today for a follow up - while I was in the waiting room there was a woman in her 50's waiting to be seen. She proceeded to lift up one of her pants legs to about her knee and look at her leg, it was all red (like a sunburn) not swollen, then she pulled up her other pant leg and the other leg looked normal--she just seemed to be sitting there comparing the two. Any ideas what this is a possible sign of? Ive never seen it before and it was driving me nuts trying to think of something it could be other than an adverse reaction to something.

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

Cellulitis, DVT....

[student-with-no-life]

with cellulitis would there not be swelling? Finding out Im learning new things everyday - practicing for the NCLEX is exhausting at times

[ZippyGBR, BSN, RN]

nancy hit the first two options that most of us would think of

there are also issues related to neuropathy and/or circulation to consider, but for someone withot those kind of concerns celluitis and/ or DVT are the pony diagnosis and the the others look more and more like zebras...

(there's a saying inthe Uk when you hear hooves look out for the pony but remember zebras have hooves ... i.e. think aobut the obvious causes first - someone said that to a colleague who had spent 15 years in west africa working for MSF etc - his reply " where i've been working we've got lots of zebras)

[AprilRNhere]

Venous stasis, recent skin graft? I'm a relatively new nurse so those are what I've come accross.

[katie258]

Fell into a large vat of beetroot juice?

[BlueRidgeHomeRN]

i vote for venous stasis with iron deposits (from dead rbc's)...

but the beet juice is always my first r/o dx!

[nyapa, RN]

I'd have to agree with the others.

But:

• was the colour uniform
  
• did the lady appear to be in pain, and what seemed to aggravate or relieve it
  
• was the surface uniform
  
• was the lady scratching
  
• how did she walk
  
• swelling
  
• moisture, secretions
  
• was the surface uniform, or lumpy or whatever
  
• did the area between her normal coloured skin and her reddish skin seem to meld together, or is there a marked difference between red and normal colour with no shading in between
  

There are numerous other questions to be asked, and I guess one really wouldn't know until you talked to her.

Then again, the beetroot juice does seem to be a great diagnosis

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I'd have suspected crushing grapes in a vat on one foot . . but it isn't harvest time.

I'd say cellulitis - you do not have to have edema with that.

steph

[student-with-no-life]

thank you for the replies -