venous assessment

Question 1

what are signs and symptoms of venous insufficiency?

Answer 1

1.swelling in both legs and ankle
2. pain when walking
3. painful legs
4. leg cramps
5. varicose veins
6. discolored skin that looked rediish - brown
7. jular vein distention

Question 2

signs and symptoms of DVT

Answer 2

1. cramping in 1 leg
2. swelling in calf
3. warm skin
4. red skin
5. swollen veins

Question 3

describe how you would check for venous insufficiency

Answer 3

1. have pt in a seat position with legs dangling ,mark the location of the superficial veins of the top of their feet with a pen
2. with the patient supine , elevate both legs to an angle of 60 degrees and hold for 1-2 minutes
3. have pt perform ankle pumps to assist with braining blood from the lower leg
4. after 1-2 minutes then quickly sit the patieint up and ask them to hang their legs over the side of the bed at an angle of 90 degress
5. use a timer and record the time it takes for the vein to refill
6. normal venous refill time is 15-20 seconds , if less then 15 seconds that signifies venous insuffiencey and they have have valvular pathology

Question 4

what does it mean if the venous refill is less than 15 seconds ?

Answer 4

signifies venous insufficiency and valvular pathology

Question 5

describe how you would check for DVT

Answer 5

lowenberg cuff test:

1. wrap a blood pressure cuff around the lower leg just below the kness, taking care not to pinch the skin behind the knee
2. close the valve and inflate the cuff gradually to 80 mmHg , make sure to ask the patient to tell you if there is any discomfort
3. minimal discomfort underneath the cuff is common
4. if the patient complains on pressure <40 then it indicates venous disease especially if other leg was able to tolerate the cuff pressure > 40

Question 6

what is a positive sign of the lowenberg test

Answer 6

if there is complaint of calf pain less than 40 mmHg bc that is less than venous pressure
also if the other leg is able to get greater than 40 with no pain