Bus passengers ‘at risk of deep vein thrombosis’
The condition is most commonly associated with long-haul flights, where passengers are inactive for many hours, but Dr Tony Healy, a consultant anaesthetist at St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin, said it was also a risk for bus passengers.
“When you speak to Accident & Emergency (A&E) consultants around Ireland about the highest incidences of people who get clots, most of them would say they are American tourists travelling in buses,” he said.
DVT develops when a blood clot forms in one of the deep veins of the leg. It can be deadly if the clot breaks free, travels to the lungs and blocks the flow of blood. Obese people, the elderly, smokers and women taking the contraceptive pill are among those most at risk of DVT.
Dr Healy said that students travelling home on long bus journeys at the weekend were another risk group.
“It might be little Johnny and he’s absolutely drunk getting aboard a bus. If he was wide awake and conscious, he might be aware that his leg is in a compromised position. But if he’s under the influence of drink from a party the night before, he’ll just go off to sleep and he’ll leave his leg in that position.”
There have been conflicting reports about the link between long-haul travel and DVT.
Researchers agree that there is a risk of passengers developing DVT on a long-haul flight, but they cannot agree on how large this risk may be.
The British medical journal The Lancet recently published research which recommended airlines take the problem seriously.
Dr Stephen Cusack, the head of the A&E department at Cork University Hospital, pointed out that airline pilots, the group which should be most at risk from DVT, showed no obvious symptoms. But he said passengers should take precautions.
“Any long journey for someone with pre-disposed problems could give rise to difficulty,” he said.
Dr Faise Bugtor, the registrar at Sligo General Hospital, has personal experience of DVT. A relative of his, a 27-year-old pharmacist who suffered from obesity, died after developing DVT on a two-hour flight from London to Germany.
Dr Bugtor said passengers should drink plenty of fluids and move their feet regularly. “The same principles apply for journeys in buses and even in your own car,” he said.
