Arthritis Pain Relief

[tamborine]

Cousin 67y went to A&E for pain relief to arthritis in her legs on Tuesday am. She died in hospital next day. We dont know the cause of death but have been told it wasnt a heart attack.

What could be the cause of death? Her OH, kids & g'kids are distraut.

[naomi24]

What have you been told?

[anneasquith]

impossible to say until you get more information, very sad,

[pixie373]

I'm so sorry, Tambo. What a shock! I think you should contact her doctor and find out what the hospital have told him. Guesses aren't what you want here- you need to find out from them. Best wishes xx

[tamborine]

We dont know but a post mortem is planned

[tamborine]

Am guessing, would morphine be prescribed ?

[lilacben]

She may not have had arthritis it could have been a blood clot.......deep vein thrombosis . Sorry to hear of your loss. xx

[pixie373]

It could depend on her medical history, medication and so many factors. My first thought was thrombosis, but purely instinct. I hope they can soon let you know xx

[tamborine]

Does DVT cause pain that cant be aided by pain killers

[pixie373]

It is painful. I believe there's usually redness/heat/swelling too, but not sure if that's in every case. Where's sqad??
Was she on aspirin or warfarin already?

[237SJ]

DVT can be painful but it is more of an ache or dragging pain. Sometimes there is no pain at all.

[anneasquith]

no disrespect pixie, or indeed to sqad, but I don't think even sqad could give ' cause of death ' at this stage .

[pixie373]

Yes, exactly, anneasquith. I hope we've made that clear already. The post mortem will hopefully give the results, but it is natural to think about it.
some info, if you want to look-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blausen_0290_DeepVeinThrombosis.png

[anneasquith]

thanks for the link pixie,

[Maydup]

What a terrible shock for everyone. It certainly sounds like something other than arthritis was causing the pain that took her to A&E. I'm sorry I can't guess what, but death most likely not to have be caused by any treatment she received there.

[murraymints]

Sad....I immediately thought thrombosis ...

[Sqad]

tambo....it seems to be an unexpected death rather than a sudden death and I agree with all the contributors above that it is impossible to give any idea of the cause of death! but it gives me an excuse to put pulmonary emboli into perspective.

Yes, both DVT,s and pulmonary emboli are big deals! but could I give you some very rough figures. Less than 1% of pulmonary emboli result from DVT and certainly much less than 1% lead to sudden death.
It is ideal for Holby City and Casualty but the figures that I have given puts a degree of reality into it.

[tamborine]

As theyre in Lincs info comes thru facebook. No further prognosis reported atm and I feel if I press more I will cause more distress. Thanx all for your explanations. Am still puzzled tho.

[pixie373]

I should think the whole family is. I hope you get an explanation soon xx

[tamborine]

Her 40+ son is my fb friend, the elders are technophobes & am seen as the geek to drum out to extended family. The virtual world aint so virtuous ;)