How Long Does Blood Clot On Leg Take To Heal?

Posted on Mon, 10 Feb 2014

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

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 Answered on

Thu, 6 Mar 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : My husband was just diagnosed with dvt Friday night. We had been on a ten hour flight to Tahiti and believe the blood clot was formed during the long flight. We were sent home and he has been prescribed a daily shot of lovenox along with warfarin and we are to contact his primary doctor on Monday. His leg is still very swollen and he has been running a low grade fever off and on again. My question is how long does it take for his leg to no longer be swollen? What risk does he still have (if any) of the clot breaking free and moving to his lungs? My husband is 62, very active, not overweight.

Answered by Dr. Anshul Varshney (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Recovery is highly unpredictable... Detailed Answer: Dear XXXXXXX I am concerned about your husbands condition and I value your queries to me, but to be XXXXXXX DVT is a highly unpredictable condition where the chances of recovery and complication is highly unpredictable. Therefore I presonally prefer to admit my patients, evaluate them and treat them untill they are stable. This treatment requires monitoring of coagulation profile and to maintain it in desired range. An important and devastating complication of DVT is Pulmonary Embolism. The chances of clot breaking free and moving into his lungs can range between 0 - 100; I am sorry if this is a pretty wide range, but this is no clinician can predict. We believe chances of pulmonary embolism are low if coagulation profile are in desired range; but again I don't think we can guarantee it. Therefore if your husband has any amount of breathlessness he requires to see the doctor immediately. Recovery time depends. If he doesn't develop complications of pulmonary embolism or cellulitis, the average recovery from swelling in 4-6 weeks. This is my best opinion for you based on details available here. I wish your husband a speedy recovery. Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad