UrgentEmergency Guide
Leg pain: Red Flags & Emergency Signs
Calf pain with swelling in one leg should be considered deep vein thrombosis until proven otherwise — untreated DVT causes fatal pulmonary embolism.
🚨 Call 999 / 112 Immediately
- ⚠Leg pain with sudden breathlessness, chest pain, or tachycardia — DVT has embolised to PE
- ⚠Severe limb ischaemia: cold white pulseless painful leg — arterial occlusion (6-hour window for revascularisation)
⚡ See a Doctor Today
- •Unilateral calf swelling, warmth, and redness — DVT (Wells score + D-dimer or USS)
- •Leg pain after long immobility, surgery, or long-haul flight
- •Leg pain in a patient on oral contraceptive pill or with cancer
High-Risk Combinations
When leg pain occurs together with any of these symptoms, urgency increases significantly:
Conditions to Rule Out Urgently
Deep Vein Thrombosisurgent
Wells score; D-dimer; Duplex USS; LMWH + DOAC
Pulmonary Embolismurgent
DVT + breathlessness = PE — CTPA
Acute Arterial Occlusionurgent
6Ps: pain, pallor, pulselessness, paralysis, paraesthesia, polar cold; vascular surgery within 6 hours
Condition Authority Pages
Differential diagnosis analyses:
When to Call Emergency Services
- →Leg pain with sudden breathlessness or chest pain
- →Cold, white, pulseless leg — arterial emergency