Causes of sudden severe anemia

Anemia is a very common phenomenon in our lives, especially for some malnourished people. Anemia is generally divided into iron deficiency anemia and aplastic anemia. The treatment methods for these two types of anemia are different. Some people may also suffer from anemia after trauma or major surgery. So what is the cause of sudden severe anemia?

Causes of acute anemia:

1. Bleeding during various injuries and surgical operations.

2. Massive gastrointestinal bleeding caused by diseases such as rupture of the esophageal or gastric vein, gastric or duodenal ulcer, etc.

3. Ectopic pregnancy, placenta previa or various obstetric and gynecological hemorrhages during delivery.

4. Bleeding when internal organs, especially the spleen, liver and other organs rupture.

5. Massive pulmonary or bronchial hemoptysis.

6. Sudden heavy bleeding caused by inflammation, tumors, etc. that erode the blood vessel walls.

7. Various diseases with defective hemostatic mechanisms, especially hemophilia, von Willebrand disease, and bleeding caused by platelet dysfunction.

Acute anemia diagnosis:

1. Diagnostic methods:

1. Carefully inquire about relevant medical history and collect relevant clinical data.

2. Closely examine the patient and clearly understand the patient's clinical symptoms. The patient may immediately show symptoms such as paleness and shock.

3. Perform an acute blood test immediately and compare the results with normal values. If the red blood cell and hemoglobin levels are far lower than normal, it can be preliminarily diagnosed as acute anemia.

Second, the symptoms of acute anemia need to be differentiated from the following symptoms:

1. Acute blood loss

For most healthy people, short-term blood loss of less than 500 ml rarely causes symptoms.

If the blood loss reaches 1000ml, there will be mild cardiovascular symptoms after a little activity. Some individuals may experience vasovagal reactions, manifested as dizziness, fatigue, sweating, nausea, slow heart rate and low blood pressure, or brief fainting.

When the amount of blood loss reaches 1500-2000ml, thirst, nausea, shortness of breath, dizziness and even brief loss of consciousness will occur. Blood pressure, central venous pressure and cardiac output will all decrease, and urine volume will decrease.

If the blood loss reaches 2500ml, shock or even death may occur. If the patient has chronic diseases, infections, malnutrition or anemia, even if the amount of blood loss is less than the above, it may also lead to shock or death.

In case of acute massive blood loss, except for those caused by trauma, digestive tract diseases should be considered first, such as gastric or duodenal ulcer, gastric cancer, esophageal varicose vein rupture, liver cancer rupture or typhoid bleeding; secondly, gynecological diseases, such as ectopic pregnancy, placenta previa, etc.; or blood diseases, such as hemophilia, thrombocytopenic purpura, acute leukemia and the possibility of aplastic anemia. The focus should be on understanding the relevant medical history, physical examination and doing necessary auxiliary examinations to confirm the diagnosis. After acute massive hemorrhage, the blood count will show a slight increase in white blood cells, platelets and reticulocytes. Treatment is directed at the underlying cause of blood loss and attempts to stop the bleeding as quickly as possible. Whole blood, plasma, or dextran are transfused to replenish blood volume. Pay attention to preventing or correcting shock.

2. Acute hemolytic anemia

Hemolytic anemia refers to anemia that occurs when a large number of red blood cells are destroyed in a short period of time and the bone marrow hematopoietic function is insufficient to compensate. The degree of anemia is sometimes severe. In addition to tissue and organ hypoxia caused by anemia, the fragments formed by the destruction of a large number of red blood cells can lead to damage to organs such as the heart, lungs, and kidneys, coagulation disorders and antibody-antigen reactions, which can be life-threatening in severe cases.