Definition

Noun: 1. A painful thrombosis of the femoral vein in the leg following childbirth: A medical condition, also known as phlegmasia alba dolens, characterized by the formation of a blood clot (thrombosis) in the deep vein of the thigh (femoral vein), occurring after a woman gives birth. It causes pain, swelling, and often a pale or white discoloration of the affected leg.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • The patient was diagnosed with white leg a week after delivery.
  • Symptoms of white leg include severe pain and noticeable swelling in one leg.
  • Historically, white leg was a feared complication of childbirth before modern medical understanding and treatments.

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in a historical or specific medical context. In contemporary medical language, the condition is more precisely referred to as postpartum deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or by its technical name, phlegmasia alba dolens.
• It is often discussed in contrast to other postpartum complications or in the history of medicine.

Variants and Related Words

• Phlegmasia alba dolens: The formal medical term for the same condition.
• Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): The general category of blood clot formation in a deep vein, of which white leg is a specific postpartum type.
• Postpartum thrombosis: A broader term for blood clotting conditions after childbirth.

Synonyms

• Milk leg (an older, synonymous term based on the outdated theory that the condition was related to milk production).
• Postpartum femoral thrombosis.

Notes on Meaning

• The "white" in white leg refers to the pallor or pale appearance of the skin due to swelling and reduced blood flow, not the color of the clot itself.
• It is a specific type of thrombophlebitis (vein inflammation due to a clot) localized to the femoral vein following childbirth.

Noun

1. painful thrombosis of the femoral vein in the leg following childbirth