When a person strikes a part of the body, usually a bruise appears on the site of the bruise. However, this is not the only reason for the appearance of such spots. Specialists call them ecchymoses, and they can be a consequence of some diseases.
Features of the disease
Skin is the largest organ. It has, among other functions, a protective load and reacts very quickly to the appearance of diseases of a different nature.
Ecchymoses occur as a result of injury to the vessel( capillary), and the blood enters neighboring tissues. Often, subcutaneous hemorrhage occurs due to hematologic problems or it can be a different kind of disease.
Ecchymoses can appear simultaneously with petechiae. This is what red hemorrhages are called, which are of the same nature as the ecchymosis, but the size of this spot is up to two millimeters in diameter.
Petechia and ecchymosis on the skin( photo)
Classification of ecchymosis
Ecchymoses differ in the cause that initiated them. The same reason also determines the location of the problem, for example:
- with bleeding to the intraperitoneal space of the ecchymosis appear on the lateral surfaces of the abdomen and around the navel,
- if the cause of the disease is scurvy, then the ecchymoses arise on the mucosa of the mouth.
Causes of
- One of the variants of the cause of the appearance of ecchymosis is mechanical damage of tissues. In places where capillaries are damaged, blood enters the tissues, which appears on the skin or mucous surfaces in the form of spots.
- Another case is when small bruises( ecchymoses) appear for no apparent reason. This is a signal that there is a cause in the body that initiated the problem.
Usually such factors are
- problems in the field of gynecology:
- adnexitis,
- ectopic pregnancy at the time of its interruption;
- ovarian integrity disorder,
- salpingitis;
- pathology can result from the treatment of any diseases:
- administration of medications:
- acetylsalicylic acid,
- steroids,
- heparin,
- warfarin;
- carrying out radiation therapy,
- ecchymosis may occur in the places where the injection was made;this is due to the fact that the needle is damaged by the vessel;a person may be predisposed to such phenomena if the vessels are close to the surface or their walls are thin and not sufficiently elastic;
- administration of medications:
- infectious diseases:
- typhus,
- scurvy,
- diphtheria,
- meningitis,
- leukemia;
- pathology associated with the circulatory system:
- vasculitis,
- hemophilia,
- thrombocytopenia,
- von Willebrand disease;
- affection of organs located in the abdominal cavity:
- pancreatitis,
- gallbladder damage,
- peritonitis,
- umbilical hernia( pinching),
- perforation of the ulcer,
- necrosis of the intestinal wall.
Symptoms of
The only sign of ecchymosis is the presence on the cutaneous or mucous surface of characteristic spots( bruises, as they are called). They have the main features:
- spots do not protrude above the surface, they can not be detected by palpating;
- objects have a different color, it depends on the prescription of the appearance of ecchymosis;hemoglobin gradually disintegrates, and this circumstance stains the stain, demonstrating the stage of the process:
- if only ecchymosis has formed, then its color is black or blue;
- with time, the stain turns yellow, it can be greenish;
- after becomes even more pale color and disappears;
- ecchymoses have an irregular shape with indistinct edges, the
- spot size in diameter is more than three millimeters.
In a sense, the appearance of ecchymosis in certain areas of the body( if there was no traumatic effect) can be a clue to find the root cause of the problem, for example:
- in a toddler, bruises in the abdomen may indicate umbilical hernia,
- the same problem in women givesa hint to check the condition of the organs in the pelvic area and so on.
Diagnosis
If the cause of the appearance of ecchymosis is not clear, then the specialists have the task of diagnosing the patient to identify the disease that initiates the problem.
A number of actions are carried out:
- specialist collects medical history,
- , as required, the patient is prescribed a comprehensive study or some of these procedures:
- biochemical blood test,
- ultrasound of pelvic area and abdominal cavity,
- is taken by biological material( bone marrow)biopsies,
- conduct hemogram, coagulogram;
- reveal the number of platelets.
Treatment of
There is no single-valued method of treating ecchymosis. This is due to the fact that the cause of the problem can be a variety of diseases. The treatment process is aimed at overcoming the pathology that initiated ecchymosis.
Therapeutic method
If, for example, a person has purpura, then a plasmaphoresis is prescribed.
Medication
Depending on the disease that caused the appearance of ecchymosis, specialists prescribe the medication. Often it is recommended to drink medicine regulating blood problems, including, to exclude the possibility of blood clots.
If the patient has found that the walls of the vessels are weak, then preparations for this direction are prescribed for their strengthening. For example, the use of ascorutin for three weeks( tablet three times a day) is recommended.
Operation
If the problem is caused by ruptures in the abdominal area, surgical intervention is necessary. The same decision is made when acute gynecological problems become the cause of bruising:
- tube rupture due to ectopic pregnancy,
- violation of the integrity of the ovary.
Prevention of disease
To avoid the appearance of bruises, the nature of which comes from traumatic influence, of course, you must beware of injuries. Since ecchymoses in a large number of cases are a consequence of other diseases, then bruising does not appear, it is necessary to do disease prevention( the root cause).
Complications of
The disease itself does not bear consequences. All attention should be paid to the cause of this phenomenon. The pathology that initiated ecchymosis may be fraught with complications.
Forecast
The success of treatment depends on the complexity of the problem that caused the appearance of ecchymosis.