Flight socks

[Desk-pilot]

I'm curious whether flight socks are effective. Also has the media merely hyped DVT up? I don't understand if it's as prevalent as the media says why airline pilot's don't seem to suffer from it. Do you all have different legs to the rest of us ???

My wife and I fly LHR-JFK tomorrow and return Concorde on Friday. It has been my ambition to fly on Concorde all my life and at last I will be realising the dream. If the socks are a waste of time I won't bother putting myself in a tournequet!

Views?

Desk-pilot

[Obs cop]

Personally, I feel there has been a bit of hype here. 11 people a week are killed in the UK in drink drive related accidents. In contrast we heard of a dozen or so deaths over a couple of years from billions of travellers in aircraft.

Sure, if you have a pre-disposition likely to increase the risks from DVT, the socks are an aid but I still think crossing the road is more dangerous.

Might I suggest a visit to your GP, as there may be factors in your medical history which could increase the risk of DVT.

[slim_slag]

obs cop,

How do you know how many of the "billions" of airline passengers die of complications of DVT? Just because we do not hear of them doesn't mean they do not exist. Drunk drivers who cause death are easy to count.

Anecdotal stories from a friend who is looking into this suggests 1 in 10,000 airline travellers are killed by DVT complications. I understand they are working on getting a more accurate figure. Also of interest is what is the corresponding figure is for travellers in trains and automobiles, and whether class of service makes a difference. Basically they just don't know.

What are the side effects of wearing a compression stocking? Everything is a risk/reward decision, medicine especially so.

[Obs cop]

That's just my point. We don't have an accurate figure of how many people have been affected by DVT. Without that figure, I feel it is irresponsible of the press to become as crazed as they did 18 months ago. If you read the reporting, it would lead you to believe that the risks were massive and yet millions stil travel every day.

What is know is that many medical conditions increase the risk and that regular exercise during the journey, combined with flight socks can combat many of the risks.

The tabloid press in the UK ultimately want to sell papers, and for a short while, they could sensationalise the DVT issue to do so. They could refer to a few specific cases, but very little accurate information has been easily available to the public. Hence for those with concerns, the first port of call surely should be their GP.

Road accidents account for nearly half of all accidental deaths in Britain and 25% of all adult deaths under 30. Yet we still drive and there has been no outrage from the tabloids. All I was suggesting is that we need accurate figures, and these then need to be put into some form of perspective.

Obs cop

[ausdoc]

There is a risk of DVT in air travel. It is probably identical to the risk of car, bus and train travel, or the risk of sitting in a chair at home for the same period of time. It can be difficult to quantify as the symptoms are sometimes delayed.

The risk is one of immobilisation, and is not specific to the aviation environment. There are a number of medical conditions which also increase the risk of DVT.

Compression stockings may reduce the risk, particularly in susceptible individuals, and have little in the way of side effects. Drink plenty of water, not because the level of hydration makes much difference, but because it forces one to get up and walk around periodically.

[Onan the Clumsy]

I knew someone had a stroke from DVT after a long haul flight. Hard to miss as he keeled over in the terminal at LHR.

Fortunately, he made a complete recovery.

[ausdoc]

Oh yes, They sure can be immediate and dramatic as well.

[slim_slag]

As long ago as the seventies, a "lateral thinking" question given to medical students would be..

Sixteen year old female gets off a plane on the Costa Brava and collapses on the way to the arrival hall. Whats the diagnosis?

Answer: Pulmonary Embolism.

Why?

Sixteen year old female, on first holiday away from parents, wants to get "lucky" so goes on contraceptive pill a month before. In those days the hormonal doses were a lot higher than today! Drinks large amounts of alcohol on the way so dehydrated and sitting on cramped three hour charter flight. Gets off plane and walk down steps (no jetway in those days!) dislodges clot which grew on flight, and lodges in a large pulmonary vessel.

So even back in the seventies it was a known complication of air travel. My source tells me half the problem of finding out the incidence was getting the airlines to cooperate, they didn't want it to be shown that economy class travel was killing people. They are now helping in research, I wonder if they already know thae answer ;)

[lamplighter]

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I knew someone had a stroke from DVT after a long haul flight.
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And how can a blood clot in a vein travel through the lungs to cause a stroke in the brain?

It is physically impossible.

[slim_slag]

And how can a blood clot in a vein travel through the lungs to cause a stroke in the brain?

Not going to pass through lungs, but could pass through a right to left shunt in the heart.