Anyone can develop blood clots, but there are certain factors that can increase your risk. These include:

• Certain medical conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, and clotting disorders
• Recent surgery or hospitalization
• Sitting and lying down for long periods of time
• Smoking
• Being overweight
• Taking hormone replacement or birth control
• Age
• Pregnancy
• Family history

If you are feeling any of these symptoms, you should seek immediate medical attention. If you are already in the hospital, you want to alert a nurse right away. 

Symptoms of pulmonary embolism can include:

• Sudden shortness of breath (most common)
• Light-headed
• Chest pain or back pain that comes on suddenly and feels worse when you take a deep breath or cough
• Cough or coughing up blood

Over the years, AU Health has been a leader in providing PE patients with advanced treatments including:

• Anticoagulants (blood thinners)
• Thrombolytics (clot busters), which dissolve and break up clots
• Catheter-directed thrombolysis (CDT), a minimally invasive procedure in which a catheter is inserted to dissolve the clot in the lungs
• Mechanical thrombectomy, a minimally invasive procedure where a catheter is inserted to remove clots from the lungs
• Surgical pulmonary embolectomy, an open heart surgical procedure to remove the clot.

Improve blood flow in your lungs when sitting or lying for long periods of time.

• Get up and walk every 2-3 hours if possible
• Do seated leg stretches:

1. Raise and lower heels while keeping toes on the floor
2. Raise and lower toes while keeping heels on the floor
3. Tighten and release leg muscles

• Talk to your doctor if you are at risk for PE

Additional Information

Find out more about pulmonary embolism from these resources:

• The National Blood Clot Alliance (NBCA)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention