Last Updated on September 17, 2024
When we mention vascular diseases one understands mainly diseases of arterial, venous, and lymphatic vessels. Arterial disease (the blood pump from the heart) is statistically at the top of the causes of death in industrialized nations.
Arterial vascular diseases include stenosis, occlusion, vascular dilation, or vascular wall dissection. The most common phenomenon in arterial vascular disease is the thickening of the vessel wall.
Atherosclerosis is often the cause. Through this, complete or partial blockage of the vessel can occur. Vein diseases are very common and are among the diseases of the people.
Veins diseases mainly affect the legs and lower limb extremities. Varicose veins and thrombus are the most important vein diseases.
Even lymphatic disease is a vascular disease. Here lymphedema should be named as a disease of importance, which arises due to congestion of lymphatic fluid.
What are arterial vascular injuries?
Arterial disease most commonly affects the arteries of the legs and lower limb extremity, but it occurs in other organs of the body as well.
There are several types of arterial diseases:
1. Atherosclerosis: Atherosclerosis is the most common type of arterial disease.
It involves the buildup of plaque, a mixture of cholesterol, fats, calcium, and other substances, on the inner walls of the arteries. This plaque causes the arteries to narrow and harden, reducing artery blood flow and increasing the possibility of blood clots.
Any artery in the body can develop atherosclerosis, which can cause diseases such as peripheral artery disease, and coronary artery disease.
2. Coronary artery disease (CAD): Hardening of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle leads to coronary artery disease. Shortness of breath, heart attacks, and angina are all symptoms of decreased flow to the heart.
3. Carotid artery disease: This condition involves narrowing or blockage of the arteries in the neck, which supply blood to the brain.
Carotid artery disease increases the risk of stroke.
4. Peripheral arteries disease (PAD): Peripheral artery disease occurs when atherosclerosis affects the arteries outside the heart and brain, most commonly in the legs and lower limb extremities.
Leg or lower limb extremity pain, cramping, numbness, weakness, and slow wound healing are all signs of peripheral artery disease.
5. Renal arteries disease: The arteries that supply blood to the kidneys are affected by this type of vascular disease.
Kidney dysfunction and high blood pressure can result from decreased blood flow to the kidneys.
6. Mesenteric arterial disease: Mesenteric arteries supply blood to the intestines. Narrowing or blockage of these arteries can lead to abdominal pain after eating, weight loss, and digestive problems.
7. Buerger’s disease (vasculitis obliterans): This is a rare type of arterial disease that primarily affects small and medium-sized arteries in the arms and legs.
It is often associated with smoking and can lead to aches, ulcers, and tissue damage.
8. Fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD): FMD is a less common condition characterized by abnormal growth of cells within the walls of arteries.
This can cause narrowing, dissection, or aneurysm in the affected arteries.
What are veins injuries or diseases?
The most common vascular diseases include varicose veins, deep vein clots (DVT), and chronic venous insufficiency.
1. Varicose veins
Varicose veins are characterized by enlarged or twisted veins due to weak or damaged vein walls and abnormal vein valves, especially in the legs.
As a regular pattern, small valves in the veins open as blood flows toward and toward the heart to stop blood flowing backward.
If these valves are weak or damaged, blood may flow backward and pool in the veins, causing the veins to dilate or become deviated, leading to varicose veins.
2. Chronic vascular veins insufficiency:
Chronic vascular insufficiency is a condition that occurs when the venous wall and/or valves in the lower limb veins do not work effectively, making it difficult for blood to return from the lower limb to the heart of patients.
Chronic vascular vein insufficiency leads to blood pooling or pooling in these veins, a condition called stasis.
In a regular pattern, veins return blood to the heart from all organs of the body.
To reach the heart, blood needs to flow up from the veins in the legs.
The calf muscles and muscles in the feet need to contract to compress the veins and push the blood up.
To keep blood flowing up rather than down, veins contain one-way valves.
In chronic vascular vein insufficiency, these valves become damaged, allowing blood to leak backward.
3. Deep veins thrombosis (DVT):
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) occurs when a clot forms in deep veins in the body, usually in the legs.
Deep vein clots can be caused by certain medical conditions that affect how the blood clots.
It usually occurs during long-time installation, such as after surgery or accident, after long travel, and busy situation.
When the lower extremity is immobilized for up to 4-6 hours, it causes the ankle pump mechanism to become inactive.
As a result, the muscles of the lower extremity cannot contract properly, thus blood circulation is impaired and the risks of blood clots in the legs increase significantly.
What are lymphatic system injuries or diseases?
The lymphatic system may be unable to perform its functions for many reasons, including:
1. Obstruction: A blockage in the lymphatic system that causes fluid to accumulate (lymphedema).
The obstruction may be caused by scar tissue that develops when lymph vascular components or nodes are damaged or removed in the course of surgery, radiation therapy, or injury, or by a threadworm infection in one of the lymph nodes.
Tropical filariasis, which blocks the lymphatic channels.
2. Infection: Infection can cause lymph nodes to swell due to inflammation.
Lymph nodes can sometimes become inflamed, which is called lymphadenitis.
3. Cancer: Cancers of the white blood cells, such as lymphoma, can occur in the lymph nodes, and tumors in other organs may spread to the lymph nodes near the tumor (metastasis).
Cancers in the lymph nodes can affect the flow of lymph fluid through the node.
Cancers in the lymph nodes can Other areas that block the lymphatic channels.
Lymphangiosarcoma is a very rare tumor that may occur in the cells of the lymphatic system.
What is bruises caused by vascular trauma?
Bruises form when the soft tissues under the skin are subjected to mild injury, which leads to a type of breakage in the small veins under the skin, which in turn causes the leakage of red blood cells.
These cells remain within the damaged tissue, creating a blue, yellow, red, or purple spot called a bruise.
These bruises mainly occur when a person falls, bumps into something, or is severely injured by something, which causes the vascular component under the skin to burst.
While the bruise takes time to heal, it usually changes color, which is very normal.
Bruises can be painful when they first appear and may be accompanied by some swelling.
It usually takes about two weeks to recover from it.
But some bruises can last for months, and during the healing period, the body reabsorbs the collected blood that resulted from the rupture of the vascular component, before the color of the bruise fades.
Who is most susceptible to bruising?
Almost everyone gets bruises for various reasons, but some people are more susceptible than others.
For example, older people may be more susceptible to discolored bruises, due to their thin skin and delicate tissues. In addition, they suffer from some diseases and medical conditions that increase a person’s risk of bruising.
When are bruises dangerous?
Bruises usually cause no harm or seriousness and can heal without any medical treatment at home.
But at some point, the bruise can become severe and need medical care.
For example, when the patient feels that the affected area is numb, the arm or leg or the place where the bruise appeared may have affected the functions of the joint, muscles, or limbs.
What is vasculitis?
Vasculitis is a general term that refers to a group of conditions that cause inflammation in the veins (vascular that carry blood to the heart), in the arteries (vascular that carry blood from the heart to the body’s organs), or in the capillaries (vascular that carry blood to the heart).
Small blood vessels that connect arteries and small veins.
In general, inflammation is the immune system’s response to injury or infection and is accompanied by symptoms such as swelling, redness, and heat.
This immune response helps get rid of foreign bodies or microbes, but in the case of vasculitis, the immune system attacks healthy vascular for some reason, causing them to swell and narrow. Or it closes completely.
This may occur as a result of an infection or as a side effect of a medication, and often for an unknown reason.
Some types of vasculitis may affect the vascular component that delivers blood to certain organs, such as the eyes, skin, or brain, and may affect several vascular components of different organs at the same time.
Finally, penetrating traumatic or blunt injuries can lead to the introduction of un control infection, fractures or fracture dislocation in bones hemorrhage or bleeding, hematoma formation also nerve injuries which require rapid surgical evaluation of injured vessels repair adequate and good management of wounds and treatments of dislocations by orthopedic surgeon to reduce life threatening risks and mortality rates and total amputation rates in extremities.
Also, acute ischemia happens if not treated and transfers rapidly which may increase the chances of developing complications and threat of infection.
