What Causes Swelling In Legs?

Posted on Tue, 12 Apr 2016

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

Tue, 12 Apr 2016 Answered on

Wed, 8 Jun 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I have bloated legs. What could cause that? I had knee surgery in December, but both legs are affected.

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
I would explain as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Welcome and thank you for asking on HCM!

I would explain that swollen legs could be related to different causes:

- excessive fluid retention (possible heart failure, renal disease or liver disease)
- venous insufficiency. In such case the leg swelling is more prominent after standing up for a long time or walking.

The knee surgery does not seem to be related to this symptomatology.

I would recommend consulting with your attending physician and performing some tests to investigate for the possible cause:

- a resting ECG and cardiac ultrasound to examine your cardiac function and structure
- a chest X ray study
- some blood lab tests (complete blood count, blood electrolytes, liver and kidney function tests, fasting glucose)
- urine analysis for proteinuria

If suspicions of venous insufficiency or varicous veins are raised during physical activity, a Doppler ultrasound of the leg veins should be performed too.

You should discuss with your doctor on the above tests.

Hope to have been helpful!

Best wishes,

Dr. Iliri

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