Am I more at risk of blood clots if I have a broken fifth metatarsal fracture and go on a long-haul flight?

Thank you for making contact and I can understand your concerns.

It seems there are two issues here:

Firstly your concerns about blood clots, or what is medically known as deep vein thrombosis. Immobilisation can be a risk factor, together with others including a previous history of clots, being on a combined oral contraceptive, various auto-immune conditions and also if you smoke.

Then there are the flight factors such as being in a cramped cabin, drinking alcohol and the flight duration. Indeed, there are many!

If you have concerns, its best to consult a physician before making a long-haul flight and they can give your risk profile.

They can also advise you on measures to limit risk. Simple ones that are often advised by travel companies includes ensuring you have a good fluid intake, use compression stockings, consider more leg-room and medications if appropriate.

Things to watch out for are pain, swelling and redness to the calf – this can be associated with sharp chest pain or difficulty breathing.

The second issue is the healing of your foot injury. Without seeing your images, examining you clinically and assessing your risk factors for healing, then it’s hard to give you more definitive information.

Nevertheless, there are things to consider when dealing with an injury:

1. The mechanism of injury – how you hurt yourself
2. Whether you have other risk factors that affect healing such as

a. A poor metabolic state e.g. diabetes, obesity, peripheral vascular disease

b. Whether you smoke

c. Your general level of fitness

d. Medications that may be taking

These all need to be taken into consideration when advising you about tissue healing and your prognosis.

If your doctor has advised about exercise, then I would follow that for the present time.

If you have concerns or questions, you should speak to your specialist before seeking another opinion. Safe trip and enjoy your family holiday!

Sorry to hear about your foot. Yes, long haul flights and bone fractures are both risk factors for blood clots, amongst other factors.

You should take the necessary precautions against developing clots if you do decide to travel. Overall however, the likelihood of developing a clot, in the absence of any other significant risk factors is likely to be low.

Having said that, you should definitely direct this line of questioning to the doctor looking after you, especially with regards to healing and weight bearing.

As a young and fit individual, recovery and healing in general is definitely quicker, and having a well balanced diet does help.

You should also consider some form of physio to help with the recovery process. This helps to maintain flexibility of your foot, decrease the amount of swelling, and stimulate tissue healing.

Again, go with the tailored advise of your doctor where exercise is concerned. As a general rule of thumb, patients with 5th metatarsal injuries can start with simple exercises on a bike or at the swimming pool by 4 weeks. You should consider this, but do monitor for discomfort or further swelling. Full activities can typically be resumed by 8 – 10 weeks.

Cheers

Thank you for making contact and I can understand your concerns.

It seems there are two issues here:

Firstly your concerns about blood clots, or what is medically known as deep vein thrombosis. Immobilisation can be a risk factor, together with others including a previous history of clots, being on a combined oral contraceptive, various auto-immune conditions and also if you smoke.

Then there are the flight factors such as being in a cramped cabin, drinking alcohol and the flight duration. Indeed, there are many!

If you have concerns, its best to consult a physician before making a long-haul flight and they can give your risk profile.

They can also advise you on measures to limit risk. Simple ones that are often advised by travel companies includes ensuring you have a good fluid intake, use compression stockings, consider more leg-room and medications if appropriate.

Things to watch out for are pain, swelling and redness to the calf – this can be associated with sharp chest pain or difficulty breathing.

The second issue is the healing of your foot injury. Without seeing your images, examining you clinically and assessing your risk factors for healing, then it’s hard to give you more definitive information.

Nevertheless, there are things to consider when dealing with an injury:

1. The mechanism of injury – how you hurt yourself
2. Whether you have other risk factors that affect healing such as

a. A poor metabolic state e.g. diabetes, obesity, peripheral vascular disease

b. Whether you smoke

c. Your general level of fitness

d. Medications that may be taking

These all need to be taken into consideration when advising you about tissue healing and your prognosis.

If your doctor has advised about exercise, then I would follow that for the present time.

If you have concerns or questions, you should speak to your specialist before seeking another opinion. Safe trip and enjoy your family holiday!