Blood Clots and Diving

[Luv2dive]

My sister-in-law had surgery on her foot last Dec. A clot formed in her leg from her ankle to mid-thigh and she has been on bed rest and blood thinners since. Her activity level is increasing slowly she can walk a mile now and work one hour daily. Her doctor told her she probaly will not be able to dive anymore ever. I wonder if anyone has any info on blood clots and diving. Does anyone know of a good dive Dr. in the Houston TX area?

 

[BillP]

Howdy Love2dive:

Scubadoc has some info on venous thrombosis (blood clots), blood thinners, and diving on his website at:

http://www.scuba-doc.com/antcoag.htm

DAN might be able to answer further questions and/or refer her to a dive medicine specialist in her area. Their contact info can be found at:

http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/contact/

HTH,

Bill

 

[John Reinertson]

Scubadoc's information nicely summarizes the use of Coumadin and diving. The big question, as he said, is what are the risks from the underlying disease that created the clot?

Coumadin is not an automatic contraindication, and having had a blood clot in the veins of the leg is also not an automatic contraindication. It would take a detailed review of her medical history and an examination to know whether she could dive.

One note for those that may dive when taking coumadin;

The degree of thinning is very dependent on diet and is also affected by a number of other medicines.

If someone normally ate very few vegetables containing Vitamin K, but made a big change in their diet when on vacation, the INR (degree of thinning) can change rapidly.

Keep diet as consistent as possible and check your INR regularly.

If you are contemplating a two week or three week dive vacation (color me green with envy) It would be wise to make arrangements for protime testing during the vacation.

If you're going somewhere really remote, there are new devices (Coaguchek and others) that allow rapid INR assessment without super-elaborate lab equipment, and can do it on a fingerstick blood sample.

Here's to bloodless diving;

John Reinertson