Swelling

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Pitting edema on the leg

Overview

Treatment

Swelling

Definition:

Swelling involves the enlargement of organs, skin, or other body structures. It is caused by excessive buildup of fluid in the tissues. This buildup can lead to a rapid increase in weight over a short period of time (days to weeks).

Swelling can occur throughout the body (generalized) or it may be limited to a specific part of the body (localized).

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See also:

Alternative Names:
Edema; Anasarca
Considerations:

Slight edema of the lower legs commonly occurs in warm summer months, especially if a person has been standing or walking a lot.

Generalized swelling, or massive edema (also called anasarca), is a common sign in severely ill people. Although slight edema may be difficult to detect, especially in an overweight person, massive edema is very obvious. Edema can indicate a chronic and progressive medical illness.

Edema may be generally described in one of two ways:

Pitting edema -- When you press a finger against a swollen area for 5 seconds and then quickly remove it, an indentation is left that fills slowly.
Nonpitting edema -- When you press a finger against a swollen area for 5 seconds and then quickly remove it, no indentation is left in the skin.

Common Causes:

Too much salt or sodium intake
Burns
Sunburn
Too little albumin in the blood (hypoalbuminemia)
Malnutrition
Pregnancy
Drugs
- Androgenic and anabolic steroids
- Antihypertensives
- Corticosteroids such as prednisone (causes sodium retention)
- Estrogens
- Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (see NSAIDs)
- Calcium channel blockers
Nephrotic syndrome
Acute glomerulonephritis
Chronic kidney disease
Heart failure
Liver failure from cirrhosis
Thyroid disease