Measurement of Women’s Leg Edema Using Ultrasonography
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17140/WHOJ-6-136Keywords:
Physiologically, a balance exists between intravascular hydrostatic and oncotic pressuresAbstract
Peripheral edema is the swelling of lower legs or hands. Venous edema, which differs from lymphedema, occurs when
something disrupts the usual balance of body fluids1
and involves
the accumulation of fluid in the extracellular compartment, which
results in an increase in the volume of interstitial fluid.2
Physiologically, a balance exists between intravascular hydrostatic and oncotic
pressures and the interstitial pressure.3
Transcapillary hydrostatic
pressure tends to drain fluid from blood vessels, whereas oncotic pressure (hypoalbuminemia) tends to produce fluid retention
in blood vessels. Venous edema consists of excess low-viscosity,
protein-poor interstitial fluid resulting from increased capillary filtration that cannot be accommodated by a normal lymphatic system.4
Thus, fluid movement occurs from the venous system into
the extravascular space. Initially, gravity pulls the fluid down into
both legs and feet.
References
Watanabe Y, koshiyama M, Seki K, Nakagawa M, Ikuta E, Oowaki M, et al. Development and themes of giagnostic and treat-ment procedures for decondary leg lymphedema in patients with gynecologic cancers. Healthcare (Basel). 2019; 7: 1-19. doi: 10.3390/ healthcare7030101
Watanabe Y, Koshiyama M, Yanagisawa N. Treatment of leg and foot edema in women. Women Health Open J. 2017; 3: 68-73. doi: 10.17140/WHOJ-3-124
Priollet P. Venous edema of the lower limbs. Phlebolymphology Website. https://www.phlebolymphology.org/venous-edema-of-the-lower-limbs/. Accessed March 5, 2020.
Gorman WP, Davis KR, Donnelly R. ABC of arterial and ve-nous disease. Swollen lower limb-1: General assessment and deep vein thrombosis. BMJ. 2000; 320: 1453-1456. doi: 10.1136/ bmj.320.7247.1453
Ely JW, Osheroff JA, Chambliss ML, Ebell MH. Approach to leg edema of unclear etiology. J Am Board Fam Med. 2006; 19: 148- 160. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.19.2.148
Suehiro K, Morikage N, Murakami M, Yamashita O, Ueda K, Samura M, et al. Subcutaneous tissue ultrasonography in legs with dependent edema and secondary lymphedema. Ann Vasc Dis. 2014; 7: 21-27. doi: 10.3400/avd.oa.13-00107
Iuchi T, Kobayashi M, Tsuchiya S, Ohno N, Dai M, Matsumoto M, et al. Objective assessment of leg edema using ultrasonogra-phy with a gel pad. PloS One. 2017; 12: 1-11. doi: 10.1371/journal. pone.0182042. eCollection 2017
Volkova AI, Edwards J, Stacey MC, Wallace HJ. High-frequency ultrasound measurement for assessing post-thrombotic syndrome and monitoring compression therapy in chronic venous disease. J Vasc Surg. 2009; 50: 820-825. doi: 10.1016/j.jvs.2009.05.060
Caggiati A. Ultrasonography of skin changes in legs with chron-ic venous disease. Eur J Endovasc Surg. 2016; 52: 534-542. doi:
1016/j.ejvs.2016.03.022 10. Comley K, Fleck NA. A micromechanical model for the Young’s modulus of adipose tissue. Int J Solids Struct. 2010; 47: 2982-2990. doi: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2010.07.001
Jain SM, Pandey K, Lahoti A, Rao PK. Evaluation of skin and Commentary | Volume 6 | Number 1| Women Health Open J. 2020; 6(1): 5-7. doi: 10.17140/WHOJ-6-136 subcutaneous tissue thickness at insulin injection sites in Indian, insulin naïve, type-2 diabetic adult population. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2013; 17: 864-870. doi: 10.4103/2230-8210.117249
Yanagisawa N, Koshiyama M, Watanabe Y, Sato S, Sakamoto S. Submit your article to this journal | https://openventio.org/submit-manuscript/ Commentary | Volume 6 | Number 1| Koshiyama M et al A quantitative method to measure skin thickness in leg edema in pregnant women using B-scan portable ultrasonography: A com-parison between obese and non-obese women. Med Sci Monit. 2019; 25: 1-9. doi: 10.12659/MSM.911799
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All content published in Women's Health (WH) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows anyone to copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work — including for commercial purposes — provided appropriate credit is given to the original author(s) and source.