had surgery, now have blood clots in arm....help

[becca0331]

I had a leep surgery done on the 21st of Jan where they cut out some cells in my cervix. They blew out a vein in my hand while trying to put the iv in. Then ended up putting the iv in my arm just below the elbow bend. The day after surgery, my arm hurt really bad and felt on fire which was a Sat. so I called the dr office on Mon. and they told me that the iv probably infiltrated and it should go away in a few days. 2 days later which was Wed. my arm was feeling worse and I couldn't hardly even bend my arm all the way out because it hurt so bad. I went by the dr office to have them look at it and he told me that it was a clot in my vessel, but it wasn't the kind of clots that move and travel to your heart or lungs. He gave me keflex antibiotic and told me to take 2 365mg aspirin 3 times a day for 2 weeks and it should go away. He also told me to do hot, cold on it, which I try and do the heating pad when I go to bed and haven't really done the cold because I have a baby and it is really hard to find time to just sit with hot or cold on my arm lol. The heat does seem to make the pain go away for a little bit afterwards. Wed. was 2 weeks, the clot had moved down towards my hand in my arm and didn't hurt anymore so I was just taking 4 aspirin a day instead of 6. Last night which was Sat the 12th, I have another one in my elbow bend but outter side of elbow bend instead of inner this time and it is all hard, puffy and hurts and this morning I have another one in the middle of my elbow bend area. I don't have health insurance so I hate to go back to the dr, but at the same time am really concerned and getting freaked out about these. I wanna know why all of a sudden am I getting blood clots and why only in the arm the iv was in???? What's causing them and how in the world do I make them go away and stop coming??? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!!!!!!!

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

We cannot offer medical advice on this site. If you are concerned, you need to call your doctor.

[JulieCVICURN, BSN, RN]

Sorry, we can't do medical advice. Call your doctor or if he's not responsive, call someone (like an ER) who is responsive. I will only say do not ignore this situation.

[becca0331]

Thank you. I see that from reading some posts and comments on this website that there are many different types of blood clots, some go away on there own in time and some need heavy blood thinners. I have no idea what kind mine are, he didn't tell me the name of them. I just hate to go back again for him to tell me to take aspirin and a antibiotic again.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

per our terms of service we can not offer personal medical advice. since you are still experienceing discomfort and swelling, need to be re-assessed by medical professional.

complications of iv therapy include phlebitis and thrombophlebitis, closer to what you are describing:

superficial thrombophlebitis: medlineplus medical encyclopedia

intravenous catheter complications

thrombophlebitis

thrombophlebitis is similar to phlebitis but a thrombus (or clot) is in addition involved. as the iv cannula stays inside your body, it may irritate the vein leading the body to trigger its clotting mechanisms.

you may notice a hardened area corresponding to where a clot has formed in the vein. this kind of small clot does not have the same potentially life-threatening consequences as blood clots in the deeper and larger veins in the body. thrombophlebitis is not usually associated with infection.

treatment - treatment of phlebitis and thrombophlebitis is aimed at relief of the symptoms including: anti-inflammatory medicine, such as ibuprofen, acetaminophen for pain, or local heat. if the condition worsens, especially if pain or the area of redness increases, medical attention should definitely be sought.

deep vein thrombosis: medlineplus

thread closed.