A 23 years old boy, a badminton player, sustained injury of left ankle. He was immobilized for 3 months, the cast was removed and patient was able to walk normally. Later he complained of pain and swelling in the left calf, left ankle and foot. His mother massaged him for 30 minutes. After a while he developed acute onset of breathlessness and was brought to emergency and died. Most likely cause of death is:
Pulmonary thromboembolism
Congestive cardiac failure
Massive stroke
Hypovolemic shock
Answer- A. Pulmonary thromboembolismHistory of immobilization for long duration suggests a probahly subclinical deep venous thrombosis that had developed in the patient. On massaging, the thrombus of DVT got dislodged in the pulmonary circulation, causing pulmonary thromboembolism and death.