Superficial thrombophlebitis

Thrombus may form in superficial veins, impeding drainage to the deep veins and eventually disrupting venous return.

Thrombophlebitis migrans may herald the presence of visceral carcinoma - Trousseau's sign.

Virchow's triad provides a framework for thinking about thrombosis.

Notes (1,2):

• prevalence of associated acute DVT in patients presenting with SVT is estimated to 6.8%-40%
  • reason for the range of associated acute DVT is because of the wide variation in study design, patient characteristics, symptomatic status, type of SVT, inpatient versus outpatient setting, indications, and whether or not any noninvasive testing was performed.
  • a study based on outpatients diagnosed with SVT (2)
    • the incidence of acute DVT was 13%
    • however, the incidence varied from 6.3% in patients with varicose veins, 33% in patients without varicose veins, and 40% in patients with a previous history of DVT
• risk of pulmnary embolism
  • the occurrence of concomitant pulmonary embolism is also variable, from 0.5% to 4% in symptomatic patients, increasing to 33% when a lung scan is performed (2)

Reference:

• Litzendorf ME1, Satiani B. Superficial venous thrombosis: disease progression and evolving treatment approaches.Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2011;7:569-75.
• Gorty S, Patton-Adkins J, Dalanno M, Starr JE, Dean S, Satiani B. Superficial venous thrombosis of the lower extremities: Analysis of risk factors, and recurrence and role of anticoagulation. Vasc Med. 2004;9:1-6