Symptoms of
pulmonary embolism can be attributed to many other
health conditions. If your doctor suspects that you may have had a pulmonary
embolism, he or she will evaluate whether you have one or more risk factors for
developing this condition. Risk factors include:
- A history of blood clots. If you or a member of
your immediate family has had blood clots, you may be at a higher risk for
developing clots that could break off and cause a pulmonary embolism.
- Other health conditions, such as
heart failure, cancer, or severe
infection.
- Recent trauma.
- Recent
surgery.
- Placement of a catheter (a thin, flexible tube) in a large
vein of your body.
- Serious burns.
- Use of hormone
medicines, especially birth control pills or other medicines containing
estrogen or containing other hormones that are like
estrogen.
- Immobilization, such as during long car trips or airplane
flights, or during an illness where you have been unable to move for a long
period of time.
- Pregnancy.
Smoking and being very overweight (obese) also may
increase a person's risk of developing pulmonary embolism.1
Even though a person's risk for developing
pulmonary embolism may increase with the number of risk factors he or she has,
the condition also occurs in people without any known risk factors.
Citations
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(2007). Prevention of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. ACOG
Practice Bulletin No. 84. Obstetrics and Gynecology,
110(2): 429-440.
