white leg
Học thuậtThân thiện
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- Milk leg (an older, synonymous term based on the outdated theory that the condition was related to milk production).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
- painful thrombosis of the femoral vein in the leg following childbirth