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Pulmonary embolism

Embolia arteriae pulmonalis · Plicní embolie

What it is

A clot lodges in the lung arteries — sudden and frequently fatal.

Symptoms & signs

  • Sudden breathlessness
  • sharp chest pain on breathing in
  • fast heart rate
  • coughing blood
  • collapse

🚩 Get help if…

  • call 112 / 911 now Sudden breathlessness with no clear cause
  • call 112 / 911 now Sharp chest pain worse on breathing in
  • call 112 / 911 now Coughing up blood, fainting or a racing heart

Where it strikes

Medical treatment

  • Anticoagulation immediately
  • thrombolysis if unstable
  • catheter thrombectomy
  • oxygen

Natural & lifestyle

  • Prevention: mobility, hydration, compression
  • stop oestrogen-containing contraception after an event

Emerging & experimental

  • Catheter-directed ultrasound-assisted lysis
  • large-bore aspiration devices

Alternative, off-label & anecdotal

Approaches used outside the guidelines, with what their supporters report and what testing has found so far.

  • Nattokinase and serrapeptase — sold as clot dissolvers; no human evidence, bleeding risk with anticoagulants anecdotal / traditional
  • Breathing exercises and graded walking after an embolism — small studies, better breathlessness early / small studies

ICD codes