Doppler Ultrasound - Information

[gerryBScot]

Yesterday at Bangkok Hospital in BKK i had a Doppler ultrasound which showed normal values. I'm just interested in getting a bit more information.

Basically I have a chronic wound on my left foot arising from surgery nine months ago in order to excise necrotic tissue in my foot; it's 99% healed but recently I had some swelling on my left ankle, distal side; my local doctor treated this as tendonitis and prescribed anti-inflammatory meds. I wanted a second opinion as I was fearful the swelling indicated the beginning of cellulitis necrotizing fasciitis or some other nasty.

The podiatrist at BH advised he could see no problem after carrying out various tests. He suggested I have a Doppler Ultrasound to eliminate Deep vein thrombosis so I went to a different section for this. I saw a surgeon who opined that DVT was very unlikely but agreed to do the ultrasound.

Here's my query ; the only part of my leg which was scanned was from the left groin area to the left knee cap. Is this adequate? For instance would this detect any problem below the knee cap and in the calf area down to the ankle? Also would it not be necessary for them to compare blood flow in both legs in terms of an accurate evaluation?

Would welcome any comments may thanks

[Sheryl]

The Doppler will only detect presence of a venous clot large enough to affect overall blood flow, or a significant reduction in arterial blood flow (peripheral arterial disease). It will not detect any other type of problem, certainly not any soft tissue problem.

To detect DVT it is not necessary to compare the two legs, and a clot below the knee would affect blood flow above it since the venous flow is towards the heart. It would not however be enough to detect peripheral arterial disease as for that need to check the pressure in the lower foot. However if pulses in the foot are strong and you are not having pain when you walk, there is no reason to suspect PAD.

[gerryBScot]

Thx as always Sheryl. Very reassuring.

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