Have A Vein On The Back Of Wrist, Stage 3 Rectal Cancer And A Tendency Towards Blood Clots. Any Treatment?

Posted on Tue, 6 Nov 2012

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 6 Nov 2012 Answered on

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : I have a vein on the back of my left hand/wrist area that suddenly popped up and is very hard. No recent IV's or blood draws in that area. I have stage 3 rectal cancer and a tendency towards blood clots, but the area is not warm, no redness, no swelling except for the vein itself, no bruising or discoloration, normal sensation, warmth and feeling in the digits. It is quite painful. No memory of any recent injury to the area. This really has me baffled.

Answered by Dr. Sudhir (21 minutes later)

Hello.

Thanks for the question.

If you tendency of blood clot, then in absence of signs of inflammation possibility of early acute blood clot needs to be ruled out. Early acute clot might not present with entire spectrum of signs. Therefore, a color Doppler would be next ideal step.

Other possibility is local skin infection, however I won't stress on that as there are no signs of local information except pain.

So ideal approach in your case would be clinical evaluation and color Doppler as needed. Clot diagnosed early are managed well, so this possibility should be first ruled out.

Hope this answers your question. Please ask if there are doubts.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E