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Compression Stockings

Travelers, Don't Leave Home Without Them

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - Compression stockings help prevent a rare, but potentially deadly, medical condition resulting from long-distance travel, medical experts say.

Deep vein thrombosis, sometimes called "coach class syndrome," is believed to kill more than 100 air passengers a year worldwide.  This results when blood clots form in the legs during four or more hours confined in a tight seat.  When the plane lands, small clots normally dissolve.  However, large clots may not dissolve.  If they break loose days or weeks later and travel to the heart or lungs, they may cause death.

The condition was highlighted in October when 28-year-old Emma Kristofferson collapsed and died of a blood clot in the lung after 20 hours of flying from Australia to Great Britain.

"Our airplanes are becoming a bigger health threat, as more seats are squeezed in, leaving less leg room and more potential for passengers to develop fatal blood clots," said Dr. John R. Pfeifer, professor of surgery and director of the Division of Venous Diseases at the University of Michigan School of Medicine. "This is a world-wide problem, and there are now cases in the scientific literature about clot formation in the legs as a result of long-distance travel." 

The deep veins in the legs are the width of a thumb, and 12 to 18 inches long.  The role of the veins is to carry blood from the leg to the heart.  Ordinary walking and exercise allow calf muscles to act as a pump to return blood to the heart.  But when sitting for long periods, such as on a plane or in the car, the blood becomes static.  This can result in blood clots, which can travel from the leg to the heart, causing serious illness or even death.

Doctors say one way that coach class syndrome can be prevented is with medical compression stockings that work by applying maximum pressure at the ankle, progressively decreasing in pressure toward the top of the leg.  The pressure compresses leg veins and increases blood flow out of the leg, thus helping to prevent clot formation.

Older Americans, people with varicose veins, overweight travelers and pregnant women are at highest risk for blood clots, but doctors say business and leisure travelers could also benefit from wearing compression stockings.

"Even healthy people should wear them if they're going on a long airplane trip or car ride," Pfeifer said, adding that he recommends the knee-high style.  "I see patients in my office who come in complaining of pain and swelling in their feet after long trips, and sometimes this turns out to be a blood clot."  He added that some clots are "silent," meaning they cause no pain, which makes the condition even more life-threatening.

Charles Handschin, president and CEO of SIGVARIS Inc. a manufacturer of medical compression stockings with U.S. headquarters in Peachtree City, said many doctors aren't aware of the benefits of compression stockings for long-distance travel because there have been few scientific studies and little physician education.  He also said airlines should educate passengers about the risks of long-distance travel.

SIGVARIS manufactures support stockings and socks that are used by hospital workers and flight attendants, Handschin said. He noted that these stockings increase blood flow in the legs, but medical compression stockings, prescribed by a doctor, guarantee the most accurate pressure distribution since the leg is measured and fitted for the correct size.  He also said the stockings don't look any different from regular support pantyhose and socks.

A 1998 study by German researchers published in the journal Phlebology found that during long-distance flights, compression stockings are more effective in preventing swelling in the lower limbs than a drug commonly used to reduce swelling.  The study pointed out that pulmonary embolism (a blood clot to the lung) accounted for 18 percent of deaths directly connected to flights into London's Heathrow airport, making it the second most common cause of death.

SOURCE: Hosiery News, January 2001

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Recent studies have shown DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis), or blood clots, can be reduced by wearing support stockings, please click Here to review further.

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