Occlusion - what is it? Vascular occlusion

In medicine, at the time of diagnosis of serious diseases, the term "occlusion" is often used. What it is? What pathological changes are behind it and by what signs can the presence of occlusion be determined? This we will talk about in today's article. More details on vascular occlusion, its symptoms and how to establish an accurate diagnosis.

Separately on the concept of occlusion in dentistry

"Occlusion" is a broad term. In dentistry, for example, it is referred to any contact of the teeth of the upper and lower jaw. So, the central occlusion (the arrangement of teeth with the maximum number of interdental contacts, in which the line passing between the incisors of the upper and lower jaw coincides with the conditional middle of the face) is practically the same as the concept of bite. That is, bite is considered a certain ratio of teeth, determined in the central occlusion.

In dentistry, many kinds of occlusion are distinguished. So, very common cases of malocclusion, for example, provoked by underdevelopment of the lower jaw or, on the contrary, its excessive development is a distal occlusion. You must have observed such a bite: the front upper teeth with it cover the bottom row of teeth.

But we will move on, finding out what occlusion is and in general medicine.

What is dangerous is the occlusion of blood vessels

Physicians, speaking of occlusion, mean the state of any hollow anatomical formation: lymphatic or blood vessels, subarachnoid (subarachnoid) space, etc. - which is closed as a result of the destruction of its walls or the appearance of tumors that have occluded its lumen.

Occlusion of vessels - this is a very dangerous phenomenon, because, for example, reducing their patency can lead to a failure of many human organs. This kind of pathology in medicine rightly refers to the most dangerous cardiovascular diseases, which, unfortunately, have risen in our time to the leading position among health problems leading to death or severe disability.

The cause of occlusion of blood vessels

First of all, it is necessary to clarify what specifically causes vascular occlusion: what this disease provokes and how its symptoms look. This information is very necessary, since more often than not, the time given for rendering urgent help to such patients is calculated literally for hours or even minutes.

The causes of occlusion include violations of the integrity of the vascular walls, blood clotting and varicose veins. Often such deviations in the circulation are associated with the consequences of infectious diseases or their complications, as well as with atrial fibrillation.

As a result of the failure of the rhythm in certain zones of the heart, small thrombi form, which at the time of a sharp rise in blood pressure, stress or physical exertion are discharged from the atrium and block vessels feeding the lungs or lower limbs.

The patient feels, as a rule, a sudden sudden pain, as the thrombus presses against the wall of the vessel, and, raspiraya it, respectively, and the nerve endings. Pain can cover a fairly large area, and the patient sometimes is not even able to pinpoint exactly where it is localized.

Types of occlusion

Remember, speaking of a pathology called occlusion, that this circulatory disturbance is divided into venous and arterial, affecting the main vessels, which feed the human organs, its central nervous system and limbs. And depending on the time and nature of the course of the disease - on acute and chronic forms.

When patency is prevented from blockage of the vessel by any dense formation moving along the bloodstream, this is embolism. It causes a violation of blood circulation. And thereby provokes a new thrombus formation. This condition is characterized as urgent, requiring urgent intervention. It is reversible only in the first 6 hours, and then leads to tissue necrosis.

Symptoms of acute embolism

As you understand, all the tissues that are in the basin of a vessel that has lost patency are necrotic. To be in time to help, it is important to know the symptoms that characterize the appearance of a pathological condition:

• Sharp sudden onset;
• Severe severe pain;
• The skin at the occlusion site becomes pale and cold to the touch, after a while cyanosis with a marble pattern appears;
• On the site of occlusion there is no pulsation of blood vessels;
• The skin loses sensitivity;
• The functions of the organ affected by occlusion are disturbed.

What is attributed to causes causing a violation of the patency of blood vessels

For the accuracy of determining the cause, which was caused by occlusion of the artery, there are several definitions.

• So, for example, embolism is called a blockage, which was produced by a blood clot moving along the vessel (a blood clot). And most often at the heart of this phenomenon are heart diseases. They cause thrombosis in the cavities of the heart.
• A thrombosis is a blockage formed by thrombi that appeared on the walls of blood vessels as a result of blood stagnation.
• Obliteration is the closure of the lumen by an atherosclerotic plaque in atherosclerosis or narrowing it as a result of changes in the vessel walls that occur with an obliterating endarteritis.
• An aneurysm is a sharp widening or protrusion of the walls of the vessel, which appears due to thrombosis and often entails embolism.

Vascular injury of lower extremities

Occlusion of the lower limbs should by right be placed in a separate section, as medical statistics record that half of all known cases of occlusion occur in the femoral or popliteal artery. This pathology is divided into acute and chronic.

Symptoms of the acute form are studied in detail, described and summarized to five main features, the manifestation of at least one of which requires emergency diagnosis and treatment. All of them are indicated in the section on the symptoms of acute embolism. Untimely diagnosis and taking measures can lead to irreversible changes in tissues and loss of limbs.

This acute pathology is treated surgically. At the beginning of the disease, therapy is aimed at restoring blood circulation, and in situations of gangrene development, limb amputation is required .

Chronic occlusion - what is it?

In the case of a chronic form of the disease, patients initially complain of fast-onset fatigue when walking, pain that appears in the calf muscles, a feeling of freezing of limbs, and a change in the color of the skin on them.

In the future, a characteristic feature of the disease becomes intermittent claudication. It is caused by pain, which appears in the calves and makes you stop. The patient waits for her to calm down and again can go. Constant pain, by the way, is a sign of progressive or significant occlusion of the extremities.

Inspection of the patient shows a change in the tissues: the skin is atrophied, pale, it lacks hair, nails are thickened and crumbled. Necrotic changes first appear spotted, mostly in the area of the soles and fingers. Accession of the infection, as a rule, entails gangrene. At the initial stages, pathology is treated conservatively in a hospital setting and is aimed at restoring blood circulation and improving metabolic processes.