(Phlegmasia alba dolens; milk leg)
An inflammation of a vein. In the condition described here it is a
puerperal septic inflammation of the femoral vein. About the third
week after confinement there is a swelling of the leg with or without
redness. Great pain accompanies the condition and the temperature
gradually rises to 102°-3°. As understood by osteopaths, this is the
result of a partial closing of the saphenous opening during parturition
so that the venous flow is partly stopped.
=Treatment= consists in carefully rotating the leg at the hip so
that the fascia lata is spread, opening the lumen of the vein so
the congestion will drain out. There will, also, probably be found
innominate or lumbar lesions which must be adjusted with the result
that almost immediate relief is given as a rule.