CNN.com - Lipinski glides past surgery complications
Skater draws attention to problem of deep vein thrombosis
By Kat Carney
CNN Headline News
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(CNN) -- In 1998, figure skater Tara Lipinski captured Olympic gold. Soon afterward, however, a common but little-known medical condition called deep vein thrombosis could have put her career in jeopardy.
"I just got on the ice one day and something in my hip popped, and I could barely move for about three months," the 20-year-old athlete recalled recently in New York.
Lipinski said the doctors told her it was just a muscle, so she kept skating. Four years later, it happened again. "Another pop and my leg went numb," she said.
Lipinski's doctors realized that the skater -- despite her age and fitness level -- had bone and joint problems requiring immediate surgery.
At the same time, she learned about another possible threat to her health, resulting as a complication from surgery.
"I knew nothing about deep vein thrombosis. ... My parents knew nothing," Lipinski said. "That's what was shocking to me."
According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, deep vein thrombosis, commonly known as DVT, is a major risk for patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. It occurs when a blood clot forms within a deep vein, which can cause pain and swelling near the clot and can become deadly if it reaches the lungs.
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Without preventive treatments such as blood thinners, the orthopedic group said as many as 80 percent of orthopedic surgical patients are likely to develop deep vein thrombosis.
"It can happen to anybody who has surgery and anyone who is immobile for some time," Lipinski said.
She added that many deaths related to deep vein thrombosis could be prevented if patients knew about the risk. She credits her doctors with protecting her from it after her surgery.
"Just the first day, I remember the doctors telling me to move around a little bit, get up and to take the blood thinners," said Lipinski, who is now a paid spokeswoman for a campaign sponsored in part by a pharmaceutical company that sells blood-thinning medications used to treat deep vein thrombosis.
Following the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano, Japan, Lipinski retired from Olympic-eligible skating and turned pro. An occasional ache in her hip is all that reminds Lipinski of her walk on thin ice.
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