Posted 12/15/2014 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
My triage nurse alarm bells went off reading this.
A hot, red, swollen extremity points to circulatory obstruction in the leg, especially if it's accompanied by pain and sensitivity to touch or pressure.
The most potentially dangerous cause of these symptoms should be ruled out before assuming anything else.
Same principle applies to chest pain, btw- we have to rule out MI before sending you home to take ibuprofen for an intercostal muscle tweak or prevacid for heartburn!