Ecchymosis

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Classification according to ICD-10
R58 Ecchymosis
ICD-10 online (WHO version 2019)
Cullen sign

Ecchymosis (from ancient Greek ἐκχύμωσις (ἐκ - from, χέω - I pour); Latin ecchymosis ) is the medical term for small-scale, patchy bleeding of the skin .

Ecchymosis is a type of purpura (general skin bleeding) that can be differentiated according to its size. They range from the sowing of punctiform hemorrhages ( petechiae ), coin-sized sugillations and ecchymoses to suffusions (extensive bleeding).

The causes are acute bacteremia or sepsis , immune diseases, an increased cortisol level in the serum (e.g. with glucocorticoid therapy or Cushing's disease ), infections such as malaria or plague , vascular disorders , thrombopenia (lack of blood platelets), bites and stings from poisonous animals such as . B. vipers , blood congestion as a result of compressive force (e.g. throttling, choking), portal hypertension in the context of liver cirrhosis and paraproteinemia (wrong and too many proteins in the blood) in question. Ecchymoses can also be signs of fractures (broken bones) and possibly only temporary dislocations (joint dislocations), e.g. B. in the area of ​​the foot skeleton.

Ecchymosis can be a sign of acute pancreatitis . This is called the Cullen's sign when the bleeding is around the navel, and the Gray-Turner sign when the bleeding is in the area of ​​the flanks.

Individual evidence

  1. Rammelt and Zwipp, 2004; Dewar and Evans, 1968; Ross et al., 1986.