“the Pending Oedema Symptom of the Thigh” at Thrombosis of the Deep Femoral Vein

The presence of oedema on a segment of the limb is a typical clinical sign of thrombosis (thrombophlebitis) of the main veins of the limb. The oedema of the limb is typically located lower than the level of venous occlusion, starting from the foot and then progresses in cranial direction. The deep femoral vein is rarely affected by thrombosis. However, when the deep femoral vein is the singular vein affected by thrombosis, its clinical presentation is “the pending oedema symptom of the thigh”. The symptom is characterized with presence of oedema at the posterior-medial muscle group of the thigh and subcutaneous tissue from the knee to the upper 1/3 of the thigh. This oedema is in contrast with absence of oedema of the foot, shank and anterior-lateral muscle group of the thigh. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the contribution of the peculiarities in the topographic anatomy of the venous blood vessels which accompany the deep femoral artery for occurrence of the thrombosis in this venous segment, as well as for disappearance of the oedema during the convalescence. The functional state of the deep femoral vein is of great importance to the venous haemodynamics of the limb. The results of the anatomical analysis of the literature data showed that the three main veins which accompany the branches of the deep femoral artery have some anatomical peculiarities which are very important for the haemodynamics in these venous segments.