A clot within a blood vessel is called a thrombus and the process by which it forms is known as thrombosis. It can be damaging as it might block the flow of blood. Also part of the clot might break away and block a blood vessel further along cutting off the blood supply to important organs.Thrombo means "clot." Phlebitis is inflammation of a vein.
Thrombophlebitis (throm-bo-fluh-BI-tis) occurs when a blood clot and inflammation develops in one or more of your veins, typically in your legs. On rare occasions, thrombophlebitis (often shortened to phlebitis) can affect veins in your arms.
The affected vein may be near the surface of your skin (superficial thrombophlebitis) or deep within a muscle (deep vein thrombosis).
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is the formation of a blood clot in one of the deep veins within the body, such as in the leg or pelvis. This kind of thrombosis can occur after surgery and may cause redness, pain and swelling.
Deep vein thrombosis commonly affects the leg veins (such as the femoral vein or the popliteal vein) or the deep veins of the pelvis. Occasionally the veins of the arm are affected.
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a serious condition in which the arteries leading from the heart to the lungs becomes blocked. It can occur when a blood clot breaks away from its original location and travels to the lungs. Symptoms may include sharp chest pain, shortness of breath and coughing up blood.
The process by which blood clots occur and travel through the veins is known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), the collective term for DVT and PE.
The most serious complication of a DVT is that the clot could dislodge and travel to the lungs blocking blood flow to lung tissue which is called a pulmonary embolism (PE).