Is burning pain in the calf caused by phlebitis?

If you experience a burning pain in your calf, you may have phlebitis, also known as thrombophlebitis. In addition to causing a burning pain, the affected area is prone to symptoms such as fever, swelling and pain. At this time, you should undergo a timely examination. There are many methods of examination, mainly including laboratory tests and imaging tests, and symptomatic treatment can be carried out through good examinations.

1. Laboratory testing

(1) Routine blood tests can be used to determine whether there is a bacterial infection based on the increase in white blood cells and neutrophils.

(2) Coagulation may show signs of thrombosis such as increased D-Dimer.

2. Imaging examination

(1) Doppler ultrasound detects changes in local blood flow. When thrombophlebitis occurs, it may manifest as the disappearance or partial loss of local blood flow signals, and the lumen cannot be flattened after pressure is applied. This examination can detect about 95% of proximal deep vein thrombosis.

(2) The principle of radionuclide examination is that radioactively labeled human fibrinogen can be taken up by the forming thrombus. The formation and evolution of thrombosis can be determined by observing the increase or decrease of radiation in a certain area. The detection rate of thrombosis in the calf venous plexus is high.

(3) When venous thrombosis occurs during impedance plethysmography, the amplitude of the impedance volume fluctuation is small. It is effective in diagnosing main vein obstruction.

(4) Intravenous contrast agent is injected into the vein to determine whether thrombosis has formed by observing the presence or absence of filling defects. The location, range, shape and collateral circulation of the thrombus can also be determined. The gold standard for diagnosis.

(5) Venous pressure measurement shows that the venous pressure of the affected limb is elevated, indicating that there is obstruction in the proximal vein at the pressure measurement site.

The disease can be diagnosed based on medical history, local manifestations, relevant positive hematological indicators and accurate imaging results. It should be noted that acute skin infections such as erysipelas may also have similar manifestations, but compared with phlebitis, the former has more severe local inflammatory reactions such as skin redness, swelling, and fever, and is often accompanied by systemic reactions, and there is no obvious thrombosis in imaging.