Swollen Leg. Overweight, Diabetes. Had Cellulitis And Necrotizing Faciatis . Taken Lasix. Correct Medication?

Posted on Sun, 22 Apr 2012

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

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 Answered on

Mon, 2 Jul 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : My brother-in-law is 54, about 75 lbs overweight, with diabetes. His legs swelled up and his doctor prescribed Lasix which brought down the swelling. Now the back of his calves have red blotches. First, was the Lasix the correct treatment for the swelling, and second, should we be concerned about the blotches? He has suffered from cellulitis in the past which became very serious, turned into necrotizing faciatis and he almost died.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Praveen Tayal (-2 hours later)

Hello,
Thanks for posting your query.
The cause of swelling in the legs in an overweight diabetic could be due to cellulitis, congestive heart failure, kidney disease, arthritis, high altitude, high salt intake and any blood clot in the veins causing DVT.
You need to get blood tests, kidney function tests, electrolyte levels, ECG and stress ECHO, venous Doppler of the legs and urine tests done to find out the cause.
Lasix causes excretion of excessive fluid from the body and is given only for the symptomatic treatment.
Specific treatment is needed after identifying the cause after a physician consultation.
I hope this answers your query.
In case you have additional questions or doubts, you can forward them to me, and I shall be glad to help you out.
Please accept my answer in case you do not have further queries.
Wishing you good health.
Regards.
Dr. Praveen Tayal.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar